The Reject Shop is an 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...

n discount variety store chain. Founded in 1981 as a "seconds" store in South Yarra, Victoria

South Yarra, Victoria

South Yarra is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 4 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area are the Cities of Stonnington and Melbourne...

, the company currently operates over 190 stores in Victoria, South Australia

South Australia

South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

, New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, 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...

, 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...

, Tasmania

Tasmania

Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

 and Australian Capital Territory

Australian Capital Territory

The Australian Capital Territory, often abbreviated ACT, is the capital territory of the Commonwealth of Australia and is the smallest self-governing internal territory...

. The Reject Shop employs over 2500 staff.

Since 1994, the chain was previously majority owned by Macquarie Bank, but was floated on the Australian stock exchange in June 2004 when Macquarie decided to offload its shares. The float was successful, with the company tripling in size two years after going public. Former chief executive Barry Saunders, recruited to the company in 2000 by Macquarie Bank, retired in 2007. He was replaced in May 2007 by Gerry Masters, a former 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...

 executive, after 33 years with his former employer.
On 11 September 2009, it was announced that Gerry Masters had resigned his position as Managing Director and would be replaced by Chris Bryce, the Chief Financial Officer, effective 14 September 2009.

Despite the strong growth experienced by the company in the years following 2004, a profit warning in December 2010 has since resulted in a sharp drop in the share price. The company was also impacted by the Queensland Floods of 2010, with the company's brand new Ipswich Distribution Center being flooded. The warehouse became operational once again on August 28, 2011.