Wesfarmers
Encyclopedia
Wesfarmers Limited is one of Australia’s largest public companies and one of Australia's largest retailers. Its headquarters are in Perth, Western Australia
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

.

Wesfarmers is the largest private employer in Australia, with almost 200,000 employees across the country. Official records announced a record net profit of $1.05 billion for 2006 with operating costs of $8.9 billion (prior to the Coles Group takeover).

On 2 July 2007, Wesfarmers announced it was purchasing the Coles Group
Coles Group
Coles Group Limited was an Australian public company that operated numerous retail chains. It was Australia's second-largest retailer, behind Woolworths Limited...

 retail business for A$22 billion making it the largest successful take-over in Australian corporate history. Wesfarmers officially took control of Coles on 23 November 2007, after paying almost A$20 billion for the company.

History

The company was founded on 27 June 1914 as a farmers' co-operative which focused on the provision of services and merchandise to the Western Australian rural
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...

 community.

In 1924 it established the first public radio station in Western Australia with 6WF
720 ABC Perth
720 ABC Perth is a radio station located in Perth, Western Australia broadcasting on 720 kHz on the AM band. The station is a member of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's ABC Local Radio network.-History:...

 before it passed into the hands of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...

 in 1929.

By the 1940s the company's work included "being wheat and general merchants; country distribution for Commonwealth Oil Refineries Ltd; wool, live stock, skin and produce auctioneers; grain & fruit exporters; insurance underwriters; acquiring agents for the wheat pool of W.A." Known as Westralian Farmers Limited, it had premises in various locations within the Perth central business district
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...

. In the 1940s there were premises at 563-571 Wellington Street. They also had premises at Newman Street in Fremantle
Fremantle, Western Australia
Fremantle is a city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle was the first area settled by the Swan River colonists in 1829...

.

In 1991, 19 m³ of the records of the Westralian Farmers Co-operative were deposited with the J S Battye Library
J S Battye Library
The J S Battye Library is an arm of the State Library of Western Australia...

 in Perth.

A name change in 1985 to Wesfarmers Limited coincided with its restructuring from a co-operative to a public company when it was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange
Australian Stock Exchange
The Australian Securities Exchange was created by the merger of the Australian Stock Exchange and the Sydney Futures Exchange in July 2006. It is the primary stock exchange group in Australia....

.

Divisions

Since becoming a public company, Wesfarmers has moved to dramatically diversify through an aggressive acquisition strategy.

Home Improvement and Office Supplies

Wesfarmers owns Bunnings Warehouse
Bunnings Warehouse
Bunnings Warehouse is Australia's largest hardware chain with stores in Australia and New Zealand. The chain is owned by Wesfarmers Limited.-History:-Pre 1900s:...

 - Australia's largest hardware chain. The chain was expanded considerably with the 2001 takeover of the BBC Hardware
BBC Hardware
BBC Hardware was an Australian retail chain of hardware stores under the ownership of the Howard Smith Group that once operated in New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland....

 group. After taking over Coles Group in 2007, Officeworks
Officeworks
Officeworks is a chain of Australian office supplies stores which was established in the early 1990s by Coles Myer...

, Officeworks BusinessDirect
Officeworks
Officeworks is a chain of Australian office supplies stores which was established in the early 1990s by Coles Myer...

 and Harris Technology
Harris Technology
Harris Technology Pty Ltd. is an Australian electronics retailer owned and operated by Officeworks, a subsidiary of Wesfarmers.-Early history:...

 were added to the Home Improvement Division.

Coal and Energy

Wesfarmers Energy owns the Curragh coal mine in Queensland, the Premier Coal operations in Western Australia and a minority interest in the Bengalla coal operation in New South Wales.

Gas and energy interests include Kleenheat Gas, Wesfarmers LPG, which owns and operates a liquefied petroleum gas extraction plant facility in Kwinana, Western Australia, Coregas, EnGen (Energy Generation) and a minority interest in Air Liquide WA (ALWA).

Wesfarmers LPG facility started full production in 2008 with a capacity of 500 TJ/day of Natural Gas producing a capacity capability of 350,000 tonnes/annum of LPG.

Industrial & Safety

Wesfarmers Industrial & Safety Division incorporates Blackwoods, Bullivants, Total Fasteners, Protector Alsafe, NZ Safety, Packaging House (NZ), Protector Alsafe NZ, and Blackwoods Paykels (NZ).

The division comprises product categories including tools, hardware, safety, apparel, welding and abrasives, mechanical services, packaging and power transmission, safety, handling, lifting and rigging, material handling, lifting and rigging, fasteners, hoses and conveyors.

Most of the Australian and New Zealand specialty businesses hold a leading market position in their respective category.

The division operates from a network of 241 branches supported by large distribution centres, hundreds of external and internal sales resources as well as e-business, websites and telemarketing channels.

Insurance

Wesfarmers Insurance incorporates WFI, Lumley Insurance Australia, Lumley Special Vehicles and Lumley New Zealand, as well as three broking companies, OAMPS Insurance Brokers Ltd, OAMPS UK and Crombie Lockwood. It also operates two premium funding brands, Lumley Finance and Monument Premium Funding, and has majority ownership of insurance software developer, Koukia.

WFI began as the insurance department of Westralian Farmers Co-operative in 1919, and in 1982 became its own company, wholly owned by Wesfarmers Limited. In 1991 it acquired Federation Insurance and became known as Wesfarmers Federation Insurance. It is predominantly a rural insurer, although since 1990 it has gained a commercial client base and also has a smaller domestic insurance business. WFI is one of few insurers offering Workers Compensation insurance in Western Australia. WFI has over 80 branches and in 2008 changed its positioning statement from We're never far away to Good people to know.

Your Insurance Group, a budget insurer, was acquired in 2007.

Coles (Food, Liquor and Convenience) Division

The Coles Division operates 2,231 food, liquor and convenience outlets through the majority of the former Coles Group brand assets. These include Coles
Coles Supermarkets
Coles Supermarkets is an Australian supermarket chain owned by Wesfarmers. It has 741 stores nationally Coles Supermarkets is an Australian supermarket chain owned by Wesfarmers. It has 741 stores nationally Coles Supermarkets is an Australian supermarket chain owned by Wesfarmers. It has 741...

, Pick 'n Pay Hypermarket
Pick 'n Pay Hypermarket
Pick 'n Pay hypermarkets are a chain of hypermarkets in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia owned by Wesfarmers. There are two stores located at Aspley and Sunnybank Hills...

s and BI-LO Supermarkets
BI-LO (Australia)
BI-LO is an Australian supermarket chain owned by Wesfarmers . Once a chain of 180 outlets, most BI-LO supermarkets were re-branded as Coles Supermarkets during 2006 and 2007. In October 2008, Coles stated it was looking to create a new chain to replace the remaining BI-LO stores...

, Liquorland
LiquorLAND
Liquorland is an Australian liquor chain owned by Wesfarmers. Liquorland is one of three brands within Wesfarmers' Coles division., along with fine-wine focussed Vintage Cellars and the larger discount format 1st Choice Liquor Superstore...

, Liquorland Express
LiquorLAND
Liquorland is an Australian liquor chain owned by Wesfarmers. Liquorland is one of three brands within Wesfarmers' Coles division., along with fine-wine focussed Vintage Cellars and the larger discount format 1st Choice Liquor Superstore...

, Vintage Cellars
Vintage Cellars
Vintage Cellars is an Australian liquor chain owned by Wesfarmers and is positioned at the higher end of the market compared with the Liquorland and 1st Choice Liquor Superstore, Wesfarmers' other liquor brands...

, Coles Express
Coles Express
Coles Express is an Australian chain of fuel and convenience stores. The business venture and corresponding fuel discount offer was launched in July 2003 in response to the similar offer by rival Woolworths Limited some years earlier, proving attractive to shoppers.Coles Myer purchased the retail...

 and 1st Choice Liquor Superstore
1st Choice Liquor Superstore
1st Choice Liquor Superstore is a group of liquor superstores in Australia owned by Wesfarmers, and competes principally with the Woolworths-owned Dan Murphy's chain....

s.

Other businesses

Wesfarmers operates Target
Target (Australia)
Target Australia Pty Ltd is an Australian department store chain owned by Wesfarmers . It operates 172 Target stores and 119 Target Country stores making 291 combined stores with its head office located in North Geelong, Victoria. It sells clothing, cosmetics, toys, homewares, electrical and...

, Kmart, and other former Coles Group entities.

Owns a 50% interest in Gresham Partners, a corporate finance business focused on mergers and acquisitions.

Owns a 50% interest in Wespine Industries , a softwood sawmill operation at Dardanup, Western Australia
Dardanup, Western Australia
Dardanup is a small town in the South West region of Western Australia. The town is located in the fertile Ferguson valley and is close to the Ferguson River.The area was first settled in 1852 by Thomas Little who named his property Dardanup Park...

.

Further reading

  • Smith, Kevin P.(1984) A bunch of pirates: the story of a farmer co-operative: Wesfarmers Perth, W.A : Westralian Farmers Co-operative. ISBN 095918970X
  • (2003) 50 years of powering Western Australia : from Western Colleries to Wesfarmers Coal. Collie, W.A.: Wesfarmers Premier Coal.

External links


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