Ritchies is the largest independent supermarket chain in Australia

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...

, owned by a group of private investors including Metcash. Ritchies, also known as "Ritchies Supa IGA

IGA (Australian supermarket group)

Independent Grocers of Australia, or IGA, is a chain of independent supermarkets in Australia. It is the local variant of the international Independent Grocers Association...

", have the majority of their stores located in Victoria

Victoria (Australia)

Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....

.

Ritchies' growth in recent years has been phenomenal. Numbering less than 20 stores in 2000, Ritchies now appear on the top 20 Australian retailers list with the likes of Australian retailing giants Kmart

Kmart

Kmart, sometimes styled as "K-Mart," is a chain of discount department stores. The chain acquired Sears in 2005, forming a new corporation under the name Sears Holdings Corporation. The company was founded in 1962 and is the third largest discount store chain in the world, behind Wal-Mart and...

, Myer

Myer

Myer is Australia's largest department store chain, retailing a broad range of merchandise including women's, men's and children's clothing, footwear and accessories; cosmetics and fragrance; homewares; electrical; furniture and bedding; toys; books and stationery; food and confectionery; and...

 and Bunnings to name a few.

History

Ritchies Stores was founded in 1870 by Thomas Ritchie after surviving the shipwrecked Isabella Watson, the first store opening up in Frankston

Frankston, Victoria

Frankston is a suburb within the Greater Melbourne metropolitan area in Victoria, Australia. It is located 40 km southeast of the state capital Melbourne at the southernmost edge of Greater Melbourne, near the beginnings of the Mornington Peninsula...

, Victoria on what is now Nepean Highway.

Community Benefit Card

Ritchies CEO Fred Harrison recognised the importance of introducing a loyalty program. The majority of loyalty programs at the time focused on rewarding the customer with gifts. Ritchies decided to go in the opposite direction, asking customers to nominate a club, school or charity. Ritchies would then donate a percentage of the total spend to the customers nominated organisation each time the customer shopped within their stores. As at April 2010 Ritchies have donated a total of $34,385,924 under the program.

Fuel Offer

Following the lead from UK giants Tesco

Tesco

Tesco plc is a global grocery and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Cheshunt, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest retailer in the world measured by revenues and the second-largest measured by profits...

 and Sainsbury's to name a couple, Australian supermarket chains introduced a discount on fuel when customers purchased in excess of a set dollar amount in their stores. Ritchies currently offer a 4 cent/L discount at participating BP

BP

BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...

or United service stations when transactions of over $25 are conducted in-store.

Christmas Club

The Christmas Club, is a savings program where customers can make regular deposits into their Christmas Club account. It was designed to help customers that find saving for the festive season difficult. Customers can either make deposits at the checkout or set up direct debits from their bank account. Come the 1st of December Christmas Club members receive a statement showing what they have saved and a letter asking them to pick up their gift card which is valid in any Ritchies Store. Customers that save over $100 for the year also receive a free gift. The program has been running since 2000.

External links

• Ritchies