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Currys is an electrical retailer in the UK
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 and Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland

Ireland is an Island country in north-western Europe. The modern Sovereignty state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned by the British on 3 May 1921....
, and is owned by DSGI PLC (Dixons Stores Group International). It specialises in home electronics and household appliances, with 295 superstores and 73 high street stores.

Their annual sales in 2003/04 were £1,752 million and £1,852 million in 2004/05.

Currently the store which has the highest turnover is in Wednesbury
Wednesbury

Wednesbury is a market town in England's Black Country, part of the Sandwell metropolitan borough in West Midlands , near the source of the River Tame, West Midlands....
 (north of Birmingham, just off Junction 9 of the M6
M6 motorway

The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It runs from junction 19 of the M1 motorway near Rugby, Warwickshire in central England, passes between Coventry and Nuneaton, through Birmingham, Walsall and Stafford and near the major cities of Wolverhampton and Stoke-on-Trent....
).






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Currys is an electrical retailer in the UK
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 and Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland

Ireland is an Island country in north-western Europe. The modern Sovereignty state occupies about five-sixths of the island of Ireland, which was partitioned by the British on 3 May 1921....
, and is owned by DSGI PLC (Dixons Stores Group International). It specialises in home electronics and household appliances, with 295 superstores and 73 high street stores.

Their annual sales in 2003/04 were £1,752 million and £1,852 million in 2004/05.

Currently the store which has the highest turnover is in Wednesbury
Wednesbury

Wednesbury is a market town in England's Black Country, part of the Sandwell metropolitan borough in West Midlands , near the source of the River Tame, West Midlands....
 (north of Birmingham, just off Junction 9 of the M6
M6 motorway

The M6 motorway is the longest motorway in the United Kingdom. It runs from junction 19 of the M1 motorway near Rugby, Warwickshire in central England, passes between Coventry and Nuneaton, through Birmingham, Walsall and Stafford and near the major cities of Wolverhampton and Stoke-on-Trent....
). Other major stores are located in Fosse Park, Leicester
Leicester

Leicester is a city status in the United Kingdom and unitary authority area in the East Midlands of England. It is the county town of Leicestershire....
, Teeside Park (Stockton-on-Tees
Stockton-on-Tees

Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in North East England England. It is the major settlement in the unitary authority area and borough of Stockton-on-Tees....
), Gateshead
Gateshead

Gateshead is a town in Tyne and Wear, England. It lies on the southern bank of the River Tyne, England, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne. Gateshead town centre and Newcastle city centre are very close to one another, and together they form the urban core of Tyneside....
 and Croydon
Croydon

Croydon is a large town and major commercial centre in South London, and the principal settlement of the London Borough of Croydon. It is south of Charing Cross, and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan....
. The largest store in terms of size is Wednesbury. New stores have recently been opened in Solihull
Solihull

Solihull is a large town in the West Midlands of England, with a population of 94,753. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is located 9 miles southeast of Birmingham city centre....
, Newport (on the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is an England island and county, located 3-8 km from the south coast of the mainland, in the English Channel. It is situated south of the county of Hampshire and is separated from mainland Britain by the Solent....
), Chorley
Chorley

Chorley is a market town in Lancashire, in North West England. The town's wealth came principally from the cotton industry. As recently as the 1970s the skyline was dominated by numerous factory chimneys, but most are now demolished: remnants of the industrial past include Morrison's chimney and a few other mill buildings, and the streets of...
, Ashford
Ashford

Ashford is a relatively common English placename: it goes back to Old English ?scet, indicating a ford near a clump of ash trees.Ashford is the name of the following places:...
 and Sudbury
Sudbury, Suffolk

Sudbury is a small, ancient market town in the county of Suffolk, England, on the River Stour, Suffolk, 15 miles from Colchester and 60 miles from London....
.

In April 2006, it was announced that Dixons stores (except in Ireland) would be rebranded as "Currys.digital
Currys.digital

Currys.digital is an electrical retailer in the United Kingdom, and is owned by DSG International plc. With its origins in a photographic shop opened by Charles Kalms, the chain now has a store in most towns and cities across the UK and Republic of Ireland....
", taking the total to 550 stores. In Ireland, the Currys brand continued to be only used for large-format stores, with Dixons retained on the high street. However, in August 2008, DSG Ireland announced that it would also be rebranding the Dixons stores as Currys, similar to the UK move, but without the ".digital" suffix and with a new Currys logo.

Currently, Currys is the leading electrical retailer in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
, ahead of their main competitor Comet
Comet Group Plc

Comet is an electrical retailer in the United Kingdom, which is owned by KESA Electricals after the demerger of Kingfisher plc. The group was founded in 1933 by George Hollingberry in Kingston upon Hull as Comet Battery Stores Limited....
.

History


The First 100 Years

Henrycurry
Currys was founded in 1884 by Henry Curry (born 1850), when he started to build bicycles full time in a shed at the back of his garden at 40 Painter Street, Leicester
Leicester

Leicester is a city status in the United Kingdom and unitary authority area in the East Midlands of England. It is the county town of Leicestershire....
, England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
. He opened his first shop in 1888 at 271 Belgrave Gate, Leicester. The company was put on a proper financial footing in 1897 when Henry formed a partnership with his sons, calling the company H. Curry & Sons. The business continued to grow and floated on the stock exchange in 1927. By this time the shops sold a wide variety of goods including bicycles, toys, radios and gramophones
Phonograph

The record player, phonograph or gramophone was the most common device for playing Sound recording and reproduction sound from the 1870s through the 1980s....
. Currys pulled out of cycle manufacturing and retailing in the 1960s to concentrate on electrical goods.

 Store count by Year
Year Number
of stores
19041
19086
191432
1925135
1930192
1940215
1943170
1953251
1963360
1973411
1983550


1984: Takeover by DSG International

Currys was taken over by DSG International plc (owners of the Dixons
Dixons

Dixons is an electrical retailer in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, and is owned by DSG International plc . With its origins in a photographic shop opened by Charles Kalms, the chain had a store in most towns and cities across the UK and Republic of Ireland....
 electrical products retail chain) in 1984 but maintained its separate brand identity. In April 2006, DSG announced that its Dixons stores (except in Ireland and in duty-free areas in airports) would be rebranded as Currys.digital, making a total of 550 Currys stores in all.

Before the Dixons rebranding, the chain contained only a few small town centre stores compared with its much greater number of large out-of-town superstores. These stores are generally split into four main departments - Computing, Home Entertainment, Major Domestic Appliances and Small Domestic Appliances. The stores are a mix of display products and self-service sections.

Customers can now reserve and collect products, meaning that products can be reserved on the Internet, then checked and bought at the local retail outlet.

End of Currys High Street stores


It was announced on 17 January 2007, by John Clare, the Group Chief Executive that the leases on the remaining 'Currys High Street' stores (not the rebranded Currys.Digital stores) expire, it is unlikely that the leases will be renewed, hence the stores will be closed at the earliest opportunity. This was included as part of 'Jeremy Warner's Outlook', a business comment panel in the Independent newspaper (UK).

ASA ruling

Currys has previously fallen foul of the Advertising Standards Authority regulations. In its February 2006 bulletin the ASA upheld a complaint that whilst Currys was advertising a package featuring the 'latest' AMD processor there were more recent processors available. It should however be noted that this infringement may be classed as a technical error, rather than attempt to mislead customers or mis-sell the product.

See also

  • Hygena at Currys
    Hygena at Currys

    Hygena at Currys was a concession between Currys and MFI Furniture Group plc, specialising only in kitchen design and sales. The furniture products sold were identical to those of MFI Furniture Group plc, however rebranded to distinguish the two companies, and usually sold at a vastly discounted price to offset competition from Howden Joine...


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