Officeworks

Officeworks

Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Retail
Founded	1994
Headquarters	East Bentleigh, Melbourne, Australia
Number of locations	141
Revenue	A$1,409 million (2009/10)
Operating income	A$74 million (2009/10)
Employees	5000+
Parent	Wesfarmers
Divisions	Officeworks Retail, Officeworks Business, Harris Technology
Website	www.officeworks.com.au

Officeworks is a chain of Australian office supplies stores which was established in the early 1990s by Coles Myer (which became Coles Group, now part of Wesfarmers). The store concept adopted by Officeworks was based on the US chain Office Depot.^[1]

History

The first Officeworks store opened in the inner city suburb of Richmond in Melbourne in June 1994.

Harris Technology, an IT retailer, was purchased by Coles Myer in 1999 and became a subsidiary of the larger office supplies retailer. Viking Australia (a subsidiary of Office Depot) was purchased by Coles Myer in December 2002 and was merged with Officeworks Direct to form Officeworks BusinessDirect, now referred to as Officeworks Business.

By late 2006 the business opened its 100th store in South Yarra, just kilometres from the first store in Richmond. Officeworks had 141 retail stores as at May 2011,^[2] with a presence in every Australian state and territory.

Following the purchase of Coles Group by Wesfarmers in November 2007, Officeworks and Harris Technology form part of Wesfarmers' Home Improvement and Office Supplies division.

Rebranding

Officeworks store in Braddon, Australian Capital Territory.

Officeworks rebranded in 2008, revising its logo, uniforms, store department names, and slogan - "Lowest Prices Everyday". The revised branding positioned Officeworks as a low cost warehouse similar to that of its sister company Bunnings Warehouse. Officeworks also adopted the "Lowest Price Guarantee" similar to that found at Bunnings, where Officeworks will beat any competitor's price of an identical item by 5%.

• 

  Former Officeworks logo, used until 2008.

Advertising

The Officeworks jingle, played behind the voiceover on television advertisements and in-store, is based on Bachman-Turner Overdrive's song, "Takin' Care of Business". The piano riff is followed at the end of each advertisement by the single lyric, "Takin' care of business".

Business

View of the interior of a new Officeworks store, post re-branding.

View of the interior of a new Officeworks store, post re-branding.

Most Officeworks stores feature the following departments:

• Print & Copy (aka Copy Centre, formerly Printworks) - Provides services including printing, photocopying, laminating, custom promotional products, Photobooks, business cards, printed stationery, stamps and name badges
• Technology (aka Business Machines, formerly Techworks) - Computers, business machines, consumables and other electronic products.
• Furniture (formerly Furnitureworks) - Chairs, desks, filing cabinets and other office furniture.
• Stationery - Pens, paper and other stationery needs.

Some stores formerly featured Inkworks, which provided ink and toner replacements and recycling. This is now part of Technology/Business Machines.

Officeworks Business is the internet and phone sales division of Officeworks, with its own warehouses. It stocks a larger range to retail stores on a delivery only basis, with a focus on day-to-day needs of medium to large businesses rather than small business and general consumers that shop in store.

References

1. ^ "Officeworks fits in the Bunnings shed". The Australian. 4 April 2007. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,21500497-27644,00.html. Retrieved 2008-05-05. ^{[dead link]}
2. ^ "Second Quarter Retail Sales Results". Wesfarmers Limited. 31 January 2011. http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9Nzk0MDB8Q2hpbGRJRD0tMXxUeXBlPTM=&t=1. Retrieved 31 January 2011. 

External links

• Officeworks