Hard Yakka

Last updated

Hard Yakka
Industry Workwear
Founded1985;39 years ago (1985)
Headquarters
Melbourne, Australia
Products Shoes, apparel
Website www.hardyakka.com.au

Hard Yakka is an Australian clothing company. It was founded in 1935 in Brunswick, Victoria as D. K. Laidlaw & Sons Pty Ltd but later adopted the brand name Hard Yakka, Yakka being Australian slang for work.

Contents

The company is one of the largest suppliers of work wear in the southern hemisphere, providing a large range of products. Since its inception, the company has expanded its work wear ranges to include Foundations, Legends, Koolgear, Protect FR and 3056: Born in Brunswick. The company also supplies a range of accessories and safety footwear.

In 2007, Hard Yakka was acquired by Pacific Brands then, in 2014, it was acquired by Wesfarmers as part of its Workwear Group along with KingGee and Stubbies workwear. [1] Hard Yakka was the outfitter of the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games and the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. [2]

Etymology of name

Yakka is Australian slang for work, recorded, with various spellings, as early as 1840 [3] and in 1888 [4] and in The Bulletin , in 1892. [5] The term, "Yakka" is known from place and plant names in South Australia and also from India and Sri Lanka. [4]

In 2000, Cecile Trioli speculated that "Yakka" is a loanword from the Yagara language of southern Queensland (yaga "work") that had entered Australian English in the late 19th century but Trioli's article was based on anonymous "typescript" with "no date" and "private information". [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gold Coast, Queensland</span> Australian coastal city

The Gold Coast, also known by its initials, G.C., is a major coastal city and region located approximately 66 kilometres (41 mi) south-southeast of the centre of the state capital, Brisbane. It is Queensland’s second-largest city after Brisbane, as well as Australia’s sixth-largest city and the most populous non-capital city, with a population over 600,000. The city’s central business district is located roughly in the centre of the Gold Coast in the suburb of Southport. The urban area of the Gold Coast is concentrated along the coast, sprawling almost 60 kilometres, joining up with the Greater Brisbane metropolitan region to the north and to the state border with New South Wales to the south. Nicknames of the city include the ‘Glitter Strip’ and the ‘Goldy’. The demonym of a Gold Coast resident is Gold Coaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dickies</span> American apparel brand

Williamson-Dickie Mfg. Co. is an apparel manufacturing company primarily known for its largest brand, Dickies. Williamson-Dickie Europe, originally called Clares, was founded in 1900 in Wells, in Somerset, to provide the agricultural industry with hardware and work clothing. The US company was founded in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1922 by C. N. Williamson and E. E. "Colonel" Dickie, who began a denim bib overall company selling workwear to farm and ranch hands around the Southwest. Today, Dickies is a global brand found in more than 100 countries designing, manufacturing and selling workwear to the automotive, hospitality, construction and medical industries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiwi (shoe polish)</span> Shoe polish brand

Kiwi is a global brand of shoe polish, originally developed in Australia in 1906 by William Ramsay. Kiwi has grown to be the dominant shoe polish in many countries since it was used by both the British and U.S. Armies in World War I. However it announced its exit from the UK market in 2022. Soon afterwards in 2023 Kiwi announced it will be ending the brand in the US by June 2024, sunsetting certain products before the 2023 year even ended.

HHGL Limited, trading as Homebase, is a British home improvement retailer and garden centre with stores across the United Kingdom and Ireland. Founded by Sainsbury's and GB-Inno-BM in 1979, the company was owned by Home Retail Group from October 2006, until it was sold to the Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers in January 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kmart Australia</span> Australian multinational discount department store chain owned by Wesfarmers

Kmart Australia Limited is an Australian chain of retail department stores owned by the Kmart Group division of Wesfarmers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee (brand)</span> American brand of denim jeans

Lee is an American brand of denim jeans, first produced in 1889 in Salina, Kansas. The company is owned by Kontoor Brands, a spin-off of VF Corporation's Jeanswear Division. Since 2019 its headquarters has been in Greensboro, North Carolina, relocated from Merriam, Kansas. The company states that it is an international retailer and manufacturer of casual wear and work wear and that it has more than 400 employees in the United States. In Australasia, the brand has been owned by Pacific Brands since 2007, after it was acquired from Yakka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wesfarmers</span> Australian conglomerate

Wesfarmers Limited is an Australian conglomerate, headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. It has interests predominantly in Australia and New Zealand, operating in retail, chemical, fertiliser, industrial and safety products. With revenue of A$43.5 billion in the 2023 financial year, it is one of Australia's largest companies by revenue. Wesfarmers is also one of the largest private employers in Australia, with approximately 107,000 employees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liquorland</span> Australian liquor store chain owned by Coles Group

Liquorland is an Australian liquor store chain. It is one of three liquor brands within the Coles Group, along with the larger discount format First Choice Liquor and more upmarket orientated Vintage Cellars. The Liquorland chain comprised 743 stores as of March 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Workwear</span> Clothing that is worn in the exercise of a service profession, a craft or an engineering profession

Workwear is clothing worn for work, especially work that involves manual labour. Often those employed within trade industries elect to be outfitted in workwear because it is built to provide durability and safety.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coles Group</span> Australian public company

Coles Group Limited is an Australian public company operating several retail chains. Its chief operations are primarily concerned with the sale of food and groceries through its flagship supermarket chain Coles Supermarkets, and the sale of liquor through its Coles Liquor outlets. Since its foundation in Collingwood, Victoria in 1914, Coles has grown to become the second-largest retailer in Australia after its principal rival, Woolworths, in terms of revenue.

Hanes Australasia, formerly Pacific Brands, is an Australian consumer products company. It is a business unit of the American company Hanesbrands.

Gazal Corporation Limited was a leading Australian branded clothing company and was a listed public company of the Australian Stock Exchange. The company was based in Banksmeadow in the Australian state of New South Wales. Its main business areas were men's, ladies' and children's clothing, and it and its subsidiaries are engaged in the design, manufacture, importation, wholesale and retail of clothing and accessories including business shirts, school wear, surf and casual wear, as well as intimate apparel. The company owned brands such as Mambo Graphics, Davenport and Bisley Workwear and imports brands such as Nautica, Calvin Klein Underwear and held the license for Oroton underwear. The Company had operations in Australasia and Europe. Mambo was sold to Saban Brands in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2018 Commonwealth Games</span> Multi-sport event on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia

The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, between 4 and 15 April 2018. It was the fifth time Australia had hosted the Commonwealth Games and the first time a major multi-sport had an equal number of events for male and female athletes.

Stubbies is the brand name for fashion shorts in Australia and New Zealand. The shorts were first introduced in Australia in 1972 as short fashion shorts for men. Since then the range has expanded to include a range of workwear for both men and women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annabelle Williams</span> Australian Paralympic swimmer

Annabelle Williams, is a Paralympic swimming competitor from Australia. She has a congenital limb deficiency. She appeared in Mad Max 4. Representing Australia, she has won a gold medal at the 2012 London Paralympic Games in the 4 × 100 m medley relay, a bronze medal at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in the Women's 100 m Butterfly S9. At the 2006 Commonwealth Games, she earned a silver medal in the Women's 50 m Freestyle S9 and a bronze in the Women's 100 m Multi Disability Freestyle. At the 2010 Commonwealth Games, she earned a silver in the Women's 50 m Freestyle S9 event.

The Gold Coast Aquatic Centre is a public swimming pool complex located in the Southport Broadwater Parklands on the Gold Coast, Queensland. It was the swimming and diving facility for the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gold Coast Parklands</span>

The Gold Coast Parklands was a complex serving the greyhound racing and harness racing industries on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. It opened on 7 December 1988 on the corner of Smith Street and Parklands Drive, Southport on the Gold Coast, Queensland for nine million dollars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sting Sports</span> Australian sports equipment company

Sting Sports is an Australian sports equipment company focused on boxing and mixed martial arts. The company was founded in Melbourne, Australia in 2003 by Amir Anis. Sting Sports was selected as the official AIBA boxing glove and official supplier for the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2016 Summer Olympics.

KingGee is an Australian work wear brand. The name is said to have originated from the reigning monarch at the time, King George V, and was an expression that meant 'tops' or 'the best'. It was established in Sydney in 1926 by Robert Adcock. The brand initially produced overalls, but has since grown its products to supply a large range of work wear, footwear and accessories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Accent Group</span> Australian multinational clothing retail company (1988)

Accent Group is an Australian and New Zealand footwear and clothing retail, wholesaling and distribution company. It has more than 800 retail stores, along with 19 brands, and more than 20 online platforms.

References

  1. "Pacific Brands passes Hard Yakka to Wesfarmers after heavy loss". Australian Broadcasting Corporation . 26 August 2014.
  2. "Hard Yakka is an Official Supporter of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games". 2 February 2017.
  3. "Meanings and origins of Australian words and idioms". Australian National University. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  4. 1 2 "Oxford English Dictionary". www.oed.com. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  5. The Bulletin, 19 November 1892
  6. Cecile Trioli (2000). Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.