L.J. Hooker
Encyclopedia
LJ Hooker is an Australia
n real estate
franchise
, founded in 1928, currently owned by Janusz Hooker, the grandson of founder Sir Leslie Hooker and was established in 1928.
in Maroubra, New South Wales
. Leslie Joseph Hooker was born Leslie Joseph Tingyou to an Australian mother and a Chinese father. Believing his Chinese
name would be a disadvantage when conducting business in Australia, he changed his surname by deed to Hooker, either after his favourite position in rugby union
or because his father was employed on the railroad as a hooker. http://png.ljhooker.com/content/content.php?cat_id=1 In 1935 he opened the first city office of L.J. Hooker at 12 O’Connell Street, Sydney
. In 1936 the business expanded into Kensington, New South Wales
, Kingsford, New South Wales
and Randwick, New South Wales
. By 1938 the company was in the position to purchase H.L. Cross & Co. and relocated to the heart of the city on the corner of Martin Place and Pitt Street. After the Depression
and the Second World War, the company floated on the Australian Stock Exchange
on 1 July 1947.
L.J. Hooker Investment Corporation Limited was formed in 1958 to allow L. J. Hooker to deal with a more diverse range of real estate areas including hotel and leisure, music, land and building trusts, pastoral holdings and housing and land subdivision. In 1958 Hooker bought Festival Records from its original owners, the merchant bank Mainguard, and he even established his own boutique label, Rex, (named after his Sydney hotel) as a Festival subsidiary. But Festival was losing money during this period, just prior to the beginning of the Sixties pop boom, and Hooker eventually sold the struggling label to News Limited
in 1961.
In 1973, L.J. Hooker was knighted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his service to commerce and the community in Australia.
In 1980 the real estate division had spread across every state of Australia when they opened the first office in Perth, Western Australia
.
In the mid 1980s, while led briefly by CEO George Herscu, L.J. Hooker crossed into development and acquisition of retailers and large scale shopping complexes in the United States
. This move proved ill-conceived, with such questionable ventures as the purchase and operation of several storied but troubled American department store chains as B. Altman & Co., Bonwit Teller
, Sakowitz
and Parisian
stores, to be utilized as anchors for a number of large, but poorly located shopping malls in the United States
. Having no track record in understanding the complex operations required to run retail department stores, and with the questionable locations of many of the proposed malls, coupled with forcing the newly acquired anchor stores into locations with no previous market presence, this venture proved deeply flawed and plunged L.J.Hooker, the department stores and its various development holdings into bankruptcy.
Most of the department store chains were liquidated with large economic and employment losses. The one mall complex that was constructed during Herscu's tenure, the Forest Fair Mall in suburban Cincinnati, Ohio
, went through numerous changes in ownership and operations. Today the ill-fated mall is still struggling, having gone through two name changes. This period, although brief in its history, was deeply timultuous and troubling and led to L.J. Hooker Limited being purchased by the Queensland
based Suncorp-Metway Limited, in January 1990.
In 1997 they opened offices in Hong Kong
and Papua New Guinea
.
In 1996 L.J. Hooker purchased the Challenge Realty Group in New Zealand
and in 1998 they rebranded them literally overnight as L.J. Hooker. In 2003 L.J. Hooker purchased the real estate franchise group Olsen & Everson. In 2002 L.J. Hooker opened its first offices in Indonesia
, and in 2004 L.J. Hooker opened offices in Mumbai
, India
and Shanghai, China.
In October 2004, Grahame Cooke stepped down as CEO and was replaced by Warren McCarthy. McCarthy was selected from within the existing L.J. Hooker network and in The Australian Financial Review
, he stated that "It was important that the chief executive be an L.J. Hooker person. There is an inherent culture. It is very much a family and there is passing on of generations of knowledge in auctions, good property management and good referral systems."
In October 2009 Suncorp confirmed it sold its LJ Hooker real estate chain business to Janusz Hooker - the grandson of founder Sir Leslie Hooker - for $67 million.http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,26214037-643,00.html
In November 2010, LJ Hooker acquired Harveys Real Estate Group in New Zealand.
Hooker Corporation Limited
is the holding company
, and L.J. Hooker Limited is the trading entity. Hooker Corporation Limited's ACN
is 003 890 444 and the ACN of L.J. Hooker Limited is 003 890 4553.
L.J. Hooker has also established an independent incorporated
legal practice
trading as L.J. Hooker Conveyancing NSW which is a division of Guardian Conveyancers Pty Ltd (ACN 136 790 022). The business is independently owned and operated under licence from LJ Hooker Limited. L.J. Hooker Conveyancing is located in Sydney
. In Western Australia
they use L.J. Hooker Settlements to do their conveyancing
.
offices of LJ Hooker in Hampton Park, a suburb of Melbourne
, is currently involved in a class action that has been taken out by over 200 former customers, who allege that the previous owner of the branch (which is now owned by the previous owner's wife) backdated sale contracts which has landed the customers with over $1.3 million in additional stamp duty charges. The matter is currently before the Federal Court of Australia and list LJ Hooker Corporation as one of the defendants, along with the former owner of the franchise. The Victorian Department of Justice (Consumer Affairs) is also investigating the actions of the parties involved.http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22184832-2862,00.htmlhttp://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21668302-2862,00.html http://www.jenman.com.au/news_item.php?id=387
and ensure they have the best possible quality of life http://www.cysticfibrosisaustralia.org.au/aims.shtml. They have been supporting them since 1998, and they have has so far contributed more than $1 million in research funds to the organisation.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n real estate
Real estate
In general use, esp. North American, 'real estate' is taken to mean "Property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals, or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this; an item of real property; buildings or...
franchise
Franchising
Franchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....
, founded in 1928, currently owned by Janusz Hooker, the grandson of founder Sir Leslie Hooker and was established in 1928.
History
The company was established in 1928 by Sir Leslie Joseph HookerLeslie Joseph Hooker
Sir Leslie Joseph Hooker was an Australian real estate agent who established the firm L. J. Hooker. Born of Chinese Australian parents in the Sydney suburb of Canterbury, his surname was originally Tingyou but he changed it to Hooker by deed poll in 1925.After an earlier failed real estate...
in Maroubra, New South Wales
Maroubra, New South Wales
Maroubra is a beachside suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Maroubra is located 10 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Randwick. Maroubra is the largest suburb in the area governed...
. Leslie Joseph Hooker was born Leslie Joseph Tingyou to an Australian mother and a Chinese father. Believing his Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
name would be a disadvantage when conducting business in Australia, he changed his surname by deed to Hooker, either after his favourite position in rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
or because his father was employed on the railroad as a hooker. http://png.ljhooker.com/content/content.php?cat_id=1 In 1935 he opened the first city office of L.J. Hooker at 12 O’Connell Street, Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. In 1936 the business expanded into Kensington, New South Wales
Kensington, New South Wales
Kensington is a suburb in south-eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Kensington is located 6 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Randwick, in the Eastern Suburbs region...
, Kingsford, New South Wales
Kingsford, New South Wales
Kingsford is a suburb in south-eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Kingsford is located 7 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Randwick...
and Randwick, New South Wales
Randwick, New South Wales
Randwick is a suburb in south-eastern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Randwick is located 6 kilometres south-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local government area of the City of Randwick...
. By 1938 the company was in the position to purchase H.L. Cross & Co. and relocated to the heart of the city on the corner of Martin Place and Pitt Street. After the Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and the Second World War, the company floated 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....
on 1 July 1947.
L.J. Hooker Investment Corporation Limited was formed in 1958 to allow L. J. Hooker to deal with a more diverse range of real estate areas including hotel and leisure, music, land and building trusts, pastoral holdings and housing and land subdivision. In 1958 Hooker bought Festival Records from its original owners, the merchant bank Mainguard, and he even established his own boutique label, Rex, (named after his Sydney hotel) as a Festival subsidiary. But Festival was losing money during this period, just prior to the beginning of the Sixties pop boom, and Hooker eventually sold the struggling label to News Limited
News Limited
News Limited is one of Australia's largest diversified media companies. The publicly listed company's interests span newspaper and magazine publishing, Internet, Pay TV, National Rugby League, market research, DVD and film distribution, and film and television production trading assets.News Limited...
in 1961.
In 1973, L.J. Hooker was knighted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his service to commerce and the community in Australia.
In 1980 the real estate division had spread across every state of Australia when they opened the first office 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....
.
In the mid 1980s, while led briefly by CEO George Herscu, L.J. Hooker crossed into development and acquisition of retailers and large scale shopping complexes in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. This move proved ill-conceived, with such questionable ventures as the purchase and operation of several storied but troubled American department store chains as B. Altman & Co., Bonwit Teller
Bonwit Teller
Bonwit Teller was a department store in New York City founded by Paul Bonwit in 1895 at Sixth Avenue and 18th Street. In 1897 Edmund D. Teller was admitted to the partnership and the store moved to 23rd Street, East of Sixth Avenue...
, Sakowitz
Sakowitz
Sakowitz was a chain of family-owned department stores based in Houston, Texas, United States. The store was founded by two brothers, Tobias and Simon Sakowitz, in Galveston, Texas in 1902. Other family members were working in the cotton mills in Galveston...
and Parisian
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
stores, to be utilized as anchors for a number of large, but poorly located shopping malls in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Having no track record in understanding the complex operations required to run retail department stores, and with the questionable locations of many of the proposed malls, coupled with forcing the newly acquired anchor stores into locations with no previous market presence, this venture proved deeply flawed and plunged L.J.Hooker, the department stores and its various development holdings into bankruptcy.
Most of the department store chains were liquidated with large economic and employment losses. The one mall complex that was constructed during Herscu's tenure, the Forest Fair Mall in suburban Cincinnati, Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, went through numerous changes in ownership and operations. Today the ill-fated mall is still struggling, having gone through two name changes. This period, although brief in its history, was deeply timultuous and troubling and led to L.J. Hooker Limited being purchased by the Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
based Suncorp-Metway Limited, in January 1990.
In 1997 they opened offices in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
and Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
.
In 1996 L.J. Hooker purchased the Challenge Realty Group in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and in 1998 they rebranded them literally overnight as L.J. Hooker. In 2003 L.J. Hooker purchased the real estate franchise group Olsen & Everson. In 2002 L.J. Hooker opened its first offices in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, and in 2004 L.J. Hooker opened offices in Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and Shanghai, China.
In October 2004, Grahame Cooke stepped down as CEO and was replaced by Warren McCarthy. McCarthy was selected from within the existing L.J. Hooker network and in The Australian Financial Review
The Australian Financial Review
The Australian Financial Review is a leading business and finance newspaper in Australia.Fairfax Media publishes it in a compact format six days a week, Monday to Saturday....
, he stated that "It was important that the chief executive be an L.J. Hooker person. There is an inherent culture. It is very much a family and there is passing on of generations of knowledge in auctions, good property management and good referral systems."
In October 2009 Suncorp confirmed it sold its LJ Hooker real estate chain business to Janusz Hooker - the grandson of founder Sir Leslie Hooker - for $67 million.http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/business/story/0,28124,26214037-643,00.html
In November 2010, LJ Hooker acquired Harveys Real Estate Group in New Zealand.
Organization
L.J. Hooker is a franchise operation. The real estate side of the business is done by franchise owners. The current Chief Executive Officer is Janusz Hooker and Georg Chmiel is the Chief Operating Officer.Hooker Corporation Limited
Limited
Limited can refer to:* A private company limited by shares, a specific kind of limited company in Commonwealth of Nations commercial law; often used as a suffix ; formerly used for all limited companies...
is the holding company
Holding company
A holding company is a company or firm that owns other companies' outstanding stock. It usually refers to a company which does not produce goods or services itself; rather, its purpose is to own shares of other companies. Holding companies allow the reduction of risk for the owners and can allow...
, and L.J. Hooker Limited is the trading entity. Hooker Corporation Limited's ACN
Australian Company Number
An Australian Company Number is a unique nine-digit number issued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to every company registered under the Commonwealth Corporations Act 2001 as an identifier. The number is usually printed in three groups of three digits. It must be quoted...
is 003 890 444 and the ACN of L.J. Hooker Limited is 003 890 4553.
L.J. Hooker has also established an independent incorporated
Incorporation (business)
Incorporation is the forming of a new corporation . The corporation may be a business, a non-profit organisation, sports club, or a government of a new city or town...
legal practice
Legal practice
Legal practice is sometimes used to distinguish the body of judicial or administrative precedents, rules, policies, customs, and doctrines from legislative enactments such as statutes and constitutions which might be called "laws" in the strict sense of being commands to the general public, rather...
trading as L.J. Hooker Conveyancing NSW which is a division of Guardian Conveyancers Pty Ltd (ACN 136 790 022). The business is independently owned and operated under licence from LJ Hooker Limited. L.J. Hooker Conveyancing is located in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. In Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
they use L.J. Hooker Settlements to do their conveyancing
Conveyancing
In law, conveyancing is the transfer of legal title of property from one person to another, or the granting of an encumbrance such as a mortgage or a lien....
.
2007 Victorian Stamp Duty Scandal
One of the franchiseFranchising
Franchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....
offices of LJ Hooker in Hampton Park, a suburb of Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, is currently involved in a class action that has been taken out by over 200 former customers, who allege that the previous owner of the branch (which is now owned by the previous owner's wife) backdated sale contracts which has landed the customers with over $1.3 million in additional stamp duty charges. The matter is currently before the Federal Court of Australia and list LJ Hooker Corporation as one of the defendants, along with the former owner of the franchise. The Victorian Department of Justice (Consumer Affairs) is also investigating the actions of the parties involved.http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22184832-2862,00.htmlhttp://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21668302-2862,00.html http://www.jenman.com.au/news_item.php?id=387
Cystic Fibrosis
The company is a major sponsor of Cystic Fibrosis Australia, whose objective is to facilitate and promote the provision of care to all people affected by cystic fibrosisCystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis is a recessive genetic disease affecting most critically the lungs, and also the pancreas, liver, and intestine...
and ensure they have the best possible quality of life http://www.cysticfibrosisaustralia.org.au/aims.shtml. They have been supporting them since 1998, and they have has so far contributed more than $1 million in research funds to the organisation.