Harvey Norman

Gerry Harvey and Ian Norman opened their first store in 1961, which specialised in electrical goods and appliances.[6] Harvey and Norman had first met when both were working as door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesmen.[6] The store's success prompted Harvey and Norman to expand the business and conduct talks with retailer Keith Lord, who sought to expand his own retail group. They could not settle on a name for the new business, with Harvey and Lord reluctant to take on the other's name. They eventually decided to retain Norman's name and that of its first store manager, Peter Ross. This spawned the retail chain Norman Ross.[7]

Norman Ross became one of the largest appliance retail chains and by 1979 controlled 42 stores with sales exceeding A$240 million.[6][8] In the early 1980s, Alan Bond and Grace Bros. sought to acquire the chain, spawning a bidding war that saw Grace Bros incorporate the chain in 1982. Three weeks later however, a determined Alan Bond successfully convinced the Grace Bros. director Michael Grace to sell the chain to Bond. Shortly after, Harvey and Norman were given notice and redundancy package of six months pay. Reasons for their sacking were not publicised, although Harvey later told The Daily Telegraph: "I said I wished Alan Bond would pack up his marbles and go back to Perth. Then I got a telegram telling me I was sacked".[7]

Norman Ross went into liquidation in 1992.[9] In October 1982, Harvey and Norman purchased a new shopping centre in the outer Sydney suburb of Auburn for A$3 million, and opened the first Harvey Norman store. The enterprise was intended to be a single store but its success led to the opening of others. Harvey Norman Holdings Limited was listed on the Australian stock market on 3 September 1987.

In the early 1990s, Harvey Norman adopted the superstore format then successful in the United States, and entered the computer and furniture markets. The first computer superstore was opened at Bennetts Green, Newcastle, in late 1993 with much fanfare. That was followed several weeks later by the opening of a larger superstore at Auburn (Sydney, NSW). Many stores later expanded their computer sections.

Strong support was provided to the chain by distributors such as Merisel, Dataflow, Tech Pacific, and Marketing Results. Extra support and funding was supplied by vendors (supplied by these distributors) such as Microsoft, Corel, Symantec and WordPerfect.

Harvey Norman also sold Apple Computer products for several years. The launch of Windows 95 was a huge success, with a few Sydney stores opening at midnight, and some regional areas opening at 6 a.m. The products came with a bonus pack featuring Harvard Graphics on CD and an introductory internet offer from OzEmail. Apple decided to stop supplying the chain in the late 1990s, but returned in 2004 with the iPod range, which later expanded into iPads, iPhones and iMacs.

A Norman Ross store was opened at Bennetts Green in 1995, with the purpose of being a clearance centre. That had mixed results, and was closed within 12 months. However, the Bennetts Green store expanded into larger premises in 1996, where it operates today. Part of the relocation was a dedicated educational centre, named Kidscape. Specialist employees from Dataflow provided advice to parents on which software was best for their child. Kidscape was installed at a number of stores, but it was discontinued at a number of them within two years.

Some stores also opened early for the Windows 98 launch, which included a number of offers, including an SPC CD with Harvard Graphics and Quicken. Other products, such as modems and printers, were promoted at $98.

Harvey Norman has relied on 'bricks & mortar' stores as its strength. When suppliers such as Compaq and IBM started supplying direct, Harvey Norman stopped selling those products in-store. After Compaq later stopped selling direct, Harvey Norman returned to selling Compaq PC products.

Harvey Norman's growth occurred organically until it acquired Joyce Mayne in 1998. A number of electrical stores in Western Australia, some of which were owned by Wesfarmers, were purchased. Further acquisitions followed and by 2000 the chain had 100 stores. In 2006, Retravision was struggling, and a number of Retravision stores were acquired by Harvey Norman. Many were later converted to either Harvey Norman or Joyce Mayne stores, but those that were not successful were closed down.[10]

A Harvey Norman superstore in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales

Harvey Norman's operating structure is unusual in that each store department (flooring, bedding, furniture, computer and electrical) is operated by a separate entity of management. Thus many superstores are a combination of three or four separate businesses managed independently contributing revenue to Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd. through lease payments and a portion of sales.[11] Overseas, Harvey Norman stores are directly owned and operated by the ASX-listed, Sydney-based parent company, Harvey Norman Holdings Limited. However, sales commissions are still heavily used across all departments of the store to motivate salespeople, drive sales and improve service.

Retail marketing consultant Kevin Moore argues that this 'high reward-based remuneration structure' drives Harvey Norman's point of difference and is what contributes, at least partly, to its retail dominance. "Almost all the people in a Harvey Norman are there because they are great salespeople, can propose solutions for customers and are paid in line with what they sell... So when you walk into a Harvey Norman, the guys on the floor have a real reason to help you. You walk away happy at the end of the day having spent money with them. And so do the staff because some of the money you left in the store goes to them... for helping you solve a problem in your life."[11]

Harvey Norman

Harvey Norman is the flagship brand of Harvey Norman Holdings Pty Ltd. Harvey Norman is mainly a household goods retailer – with items being sold in their stores including major appliances, small appliances, information technology (such as computers, printers and mobile phones), furniture, bedding, hardware (bathrooms) and flooring among other things. There are 193 franchise-operated Harvey Norman stores located throughout Australia, as at 23 April 2020, with separate franchisees owning and operating separate departments. The majority of Harvey Norman stores are located in New South Wales (56), followed by Victoria (45), Queensland (44), Western Australia (27), South Australia (10), Tasmania (7), Northern Territory (2) and the Australian Capital Territory (2).

Harvey Norman in the Queen Street Mall, Brisbane

Harvey Norman store at Millenia Walk Singapore

As of 30 June 2015, Harvey Norman Holdings' overseas operations (all conducted under the Harvey Norman brand) are in:[5]

• Croatia (2 stores)
• Ireland (14 stores)
• Malaysia (17 stores)
• New Zealand (36 stores)
• Northern Ireland (2 stores)
• Singapore (17 stores)
• Slovenia (5 stores)

With the exception of Malaysia and Singapore, all overseas operations are directly owned and operated by Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd. or its associated companies.

The Harvey Norman stores in Malaysia and Singapore are ultimately owned and operated by a Singaporean company, Pertama Holdings Limited. Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd. and its associated companies effectively own 80.2% of the company, with a Singaporean sporting goods and fashion distributor, Ossia International, holding 19.8%.[20] Formerly listed on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), on 8 July 2013, it was finally delisted after the proportion of shares in free float fell below 10%. Under the former ownership structure, as of July 2013 Harvey Norman Singapore (a wholly owned subsidiary of ASX-listed Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd.) and Harvey Norman Ossia (Asia) Ltd.—a 60/40 joint-venture with Ossia International—had held over 83% of Pertama's shares.[21]

The 86 company-owned overseas stores of Harvey Norman contributed around 10%, or AU$36.5 million, of the parent company's AU$378 million profit in the financial year ended 30 June 2015 – an increase of 32% from the previous financial year. This excludes the financial impact of the overseas property Harvey Norman owns for its stores. New Zealand was the only overseas market to recorded a rise in profit over the last financial year (from AU$49.75 million to AU$53.11 million), with operations in Slovenia and Croatia posting a small profit decline (from AU$3.02 million to AU$2.70 million) and all other overseas operations recording losses.[5]

• In 1995, the ACCC acted against Harvey Norman for knowingly distributing a catalogue which included more than 20 errors. These included illustrations of sale items with incorrect accessories or functions and packages describing features that they did not actually have.[25]
• In 2000, before the Australian implementation of the Goods and Services Tax, the ACCC alleged that Harvey Norman advertised Quicken QuickBooks for $199 with bonus software valued at more than $900 while aware that the quantities of bonus software were insufficient to meet consumer demand. Harvey Norman was also alleged to have misled consumers regarding tax benefits associated with the purchase of Quicken Quickbooks and digital cameras.[26]
• In November 2008, the company's chief executive, Gerry Harvey, was heavily criticised for comparing Ireland's economic problems with the Great Famine,[27][28][29][30][31] an event which saw the deaths of over a million people. Harvey has since refused to apologise, admonishing the Irish for their poor sense of humour and stating: "It doesn’t say much about a people when they can’t take something like that on the chin and get on with it."[32]
• On 8 October 2011, four environmentalist activists illegally climbed the Sydney Opera House and spread out a banner over one of the sails, reading "No Harvey Norman No! Stop selling Aussie forest destruction" as part of a protest against the retailer's profiting from environmental damage. A spokesperson for the protesters said in an interview the "profiting from the destruction of our spectacular forests is absolutely unacceptable". Harvey Norman had previously mentioned they were being "unfairly targeted" and were trying "their best" to sell products from sustainable timber. The protesters were arrested shortly after the event.[33] In response, the Furniture Industry Association of Australia said that, "Get Up! are effectively campaigning for rainforest destruction in other countries instead of sustainably harvested Australian timber".[34] David Penberthy writing in The Punch said, "there have been a lot of dumb campaigns launched over the years but this one is hands down the stupidest thing I have ever seen."[35] The Minister for Manufacturing, Kim Carr has said, "the GetUp! 'No Harvey No' campaign runs the risk of deterring people from buying Australian-made furniture and supporting Australian jobs".[34]
• In December 2011, Harvey Norman was fined AU$1.25 million by the Federal Court of Australia for misleading advertising relating to their promotion of 3D televisions to watch the NRL and AFL Grand Finals in areas which could not receive 3D signals.[36]
• In 2011 the outspoken founder of Harvey Norman, Gerry Harvey, fronted a sustained media campaign and funded a special-interest lobby group, the Fair Imports Alliance. By late December apparently in a volte-face, Harvey Norman launched a gaming website that leveraged its Irish subsidiary to export video games direct to customers and therefore was outside of the jurisdiction of Australian tax laws for the purposes of GST. Concerns were raised earlier in the year about the prospect of retailers conducting business in such a manner.[37]
• On 1 October 2015, the New Zealand online store offered cheap furniture deals between midnight and 8 am. Subsequently, the store decided not to honour the sales stating the prices were the result of a "genuine error", leaving a number of disgruntled customers and potentially a damaged brand name.[38]

• Free Access Magazine

• Harvey Norman Australia
• Harvey Norman New Zealand
• Harvey Norman Ireland
• Harvey Norman Northern Ireland
• Harvey Norman Slovenia
• Harvey Norman Singapore
• Harvey Norman Malaysia
• Harvey Norman Croatia
• Harvey Norman Big Buys