Industry | Home improvement retailers |
---|---|
Headquarters | , |
Area served | |
Key people | Chris Dawson |
Brands | The Range Wilko |
Norton Group Holdings Limited is a British holding company of home improvement retailers including The Range and Wilko, as well as a concession partnership with the Iceland supermarket chain. It is owned by Chris Dawson.
In 1980, Chris Dawson began as an open-air market trader in Plymouth, later opening a retail store on Sugar Mill Business Park in 1989. Initially trading as Chris Dawson Superstores (CDS), the name would later change to The Range in the early 1990s. [1] The Range would then later grow into a major retailer across the United Kingdom, with Norton Group Holdings becoming the ultimate owning company. [2]
In September 2023, the company acquired the brand and digital assets of discount retailer Wilko for £5,000,000 after Wilko's parent company collapsed into administration a month earlier. [3] In October 2023, Norton Group Holdings said that the company would open 5 new stand-alone Wilko stores “before Christmas". This came just under 3 weeks after the collapsed retailer ceased operations. [4] This would include a store in both Plymouth and Exeter, two in the southeast, and one in the north. [5] By 29 March 2024, Wilko stores had opened in Plymouth, Exeter, Luton, St Albans, and Rotherham, with an additional store planned to open in Poole at an unconfirmed date. [6] [7]
In July 2024, it was reported that Norton Group Holdings was exploring a takeover deal of DIY chain Homebase from Hilco Capital. [8]
Debenhams plc was a British department store chain operating in the United Kingdom, Denmark and the Republic of Ireland, and is still operating as a franchise in seven Middle East countries. It was founded in 1778 as a single store in London and grew to 178 locations across those countries, also owning the Danish department store chain Magasin du Nord. In its final years, its headquarters were within the premises of its flagship store in Oxford Street, London. The range of goods sold included middle-to-high-end clothing, beauty, household items, and furniture.
Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids and various others. The company was founded in 1948; its first store was built in April 1948, with its headquarters located in Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area.
Poundstretcher is a British variety store chain, founded in 1981 by Paul Appell and Stephen Fearnley. The retailer is currently based in Kirby Muxloe, Leicestershire, and since April 2024 has been a subsidiary of the Fortress Investment Group.
Focus was a British do-it-yourself and home improvement retailer, founded in 1987.
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.
Bunnings Group Limited, trading as Bunnings Warehouse or Bunnings, is an Australian household hardware and garden centre chain. The chain has been owned by Wesfarmers since 1994, and has stores in Australia and New Zealand.
Argos Limited is a British catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and formerly in Ireland, acquired by Sainsbury's supermarket chain in 2016. It was established in November 1972 and is named after the Greek city of Argos. The company trades both through physical shops and online, with 29 million yearly shop customers, and nearly a billion online visitors per annum. It has also franchised overseas to countries such as China.
Habitat is a brand of household furnishings in the United Kingdom and the main homewares brand within the Sainsbury's group.
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.
Home Retail Group plc was a home and general merchandise retailer based in the United Kingdom. It was the parent company of Argos and Habitat, and once owned the do it yourself chain Homebase before selling it to the Australian retailer Wesfarmers in February 2016. Home Retail Group was listed on the London Stock Exchange, until it was acquired by the British supermarket company Sainsbury's for £1.4 billion on 2 September 2016.
T. J. Hughes, registered and styled as TJ Hughes, is a British discount department store brand which first emerged in Liverpool in 1912.
Wilko.com Limited is a retail chain owned by Norton Group Holdings since 2023, prior to which it was owned by Wilko Limited, founded in the United Kingdom in 1930.
Poundland is a British variety store chain founded in 1990. It once sold most items at the single price of £1, including clearance items and proprietary brands. The first pilot store opened in December 1990 following numerous rejections by landlords who had reservations about allowing a single-price store to operate, fearing it could adversely affect the local competition. An estimated 7 million customers shopped in Poundland every week in 2016, many being female shoppers in the C1, C2, D and E categories. Following a drop in share price of over 50%, Poundland was acquired in August 2016 by Steinhoff International for £610 million.
Christmas Tree Shops is a defunct American chain of big-box specialty retail stores, headquartered in Middleborough, Massachusetts. At its peak, the chain operated 72 stores in 20 U.S. states, primarily in the Northeast. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2023 and closed all of its stores by August 12, 2023, officially ending its 53-year legacy.
The Range Home & Gardens PLC is a multi-channel retailer selling products in the home, garden, and leisure categories, with over 210 stores in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is owned by Norton Group Holdings, who also own Wilko.
The Children's Place Inc. is an American specialty retailer of children's apparel and accessories headquartered in Secaucus, New Jersey. It also markets apparel under the Children's Place, Place, Baby Place, and Gymboree brand names.
B&M Retail Limited, trading as B&M, is a British multinational variety store chain founded in 1978 and based in Speke. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
The James Pascoe Ltd Group of Companies is a privately owned New Zealand retail group with holdings across New Zealand and Australia. JPG owns and operates chains Pascoes the Jewellers, Stewart Dawsons and Goldmark ; department store Farmers ; homeware retailer Stevens; and bookshop Whitcoulls in New Zealand. The group's three Australian businesses are jewellers Prouds the Jewellers, Angus & Coote and Goldmark, with over 460 stores across Australia as of 2012. Goldmark is the only brand operating in both countries.
Christopher Frederick Dawson is a British billionaire businessman. He is best known as the founder and executive chairman of Norton Group Holdings, which owns the British retail chains The Range and Wilko. The ultimate owner is Dawson's wife, who registers as a resident in Jersey, a place that offers tax savings over UK resident individuals.
Douglas Robert Putman is a billionaire Canadian businessman, predominately trading in the retail sector across North America and Europe. Through his firm, Putman Investments, he owns numerous retail chains involving music, entertainment, toys and home goods.