Wickes
Encyclopedia
Wickes is a do-it-yourself retailer based in the United Kingdom and owned by Travis Perkins
Travis Perkins
Travis Perkins plc is a British builders merchant based in Northampton. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.-History:...

, with more than 190 stores throughout the country. It focuses on supplies and materials for homeowners and the building trade. Also targeting the kitchen and bathroom market, in which it has extensive ranges from budget take away kitchens and bathrooms, to more bespoke professionally designed kitchens and bathrooms.

History

Wickes was founded by Henry Dunn Wickes in Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

. USA in 1854 and in 1972 Wickes Corporation along with British builders merchant, Sankeys opened its first store in the UK. By 1987 Wickes was trading from 41 locations and was floated on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...

.

In the summer of 1996 serious accounting irregularities were uncovered. Bill Grimsey
Bill Grimsey
Bill Grimsey is a businessman living in Radlett in the United Kingdom who has specialised in the food and DIY sectors, most notably at Wickes, Iceland, and Focus .-Early career:Grimsey left school at 15 to became a butcher's boy...

 was appointed CEO in November to oversee its recovery from the scandal that saw its share price suspended and the banks foreclosing. Grimsey launched a rights issue, started an employee share scheme, and turned around the company to the point where it was bought by Focus-Do-It-All
Focus (DIY)
Focus DIY was a privately owned chain of DIY stores in the UK. It served the consumer DIY market sector, and most stores had some form of garden centre....

, backed by Duke Street Capital
Duke Street Capital
Duke Street is a private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout and growth capital investments in middle-market companies in Western Europe, particularly the UK and France....

, in September 2000.

Wickes grew from 131 stores in October 2000 to 172 in March 2004, including the re-branding in of 36 Focus stores. Focus Group sold Wickes to Travis Perkins
Travis Perkins
Travis Perkins plc is a British builders merchant based in Northampton. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.-History:...

 in 2005.
In late 2007 Wickes acquired seven stores from Focus DIY after Focus was taken over in June 2007 by Cerberus Capital for £1, these stores were in Glossop
Glossop
Glossop is a market town within the Borough of High Peak in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the Glossop Brook, a tributary of the River Etherow, about east of the city of Manchester, west of the city of Sheffield. Glossop is situated near Derbyshire's county borders with Cheshire, Greater...

, Mansfield
Mansfield
Mansfield is a town in Nottinghamshire, England. It is the main town in the Mansfield local government district. Mansfield is a part of the Mansfield Urban Area....

, Penrith
Penrith, Cumbria
Penrith was an urban district between 1894 and 1974, when it was merged into Eden District.The authority's area was coterminous with the civil parish of Penrith although when the council was abolished Penrith became an unparished area....

, Bulwell
Bulwell
Bulwell is an English market town approximately northwest of Nottingham city centre, on the northern edge of the city. The United Kingdom Census 2001 showed there were almost 30,000 people living in the Bulwell area, accounting for over 10% of the population of the city of Nottingham.-Early...

, Plumstead
Plumstead
Plumstead is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich. Plumstead is a multi cultural area with large Asian and Afro-Caribbean communities, in similarity to local areas such as Woolwich and Thamesmead...

, Dumfries
Dumfries
Dumfries is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland. It is near the mouth of the River Nith into the Solway Firth. Dumfries was the county town of the former county of Dumfriesshire. Dumfries is nicknamed Queen of the South...

 and Hereford
Hereford
Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...

.

In May 2011 it was announced that Wickes had purchased 13 stores from the appointed administrators of the Focus DIY chain Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms, along with Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers ....

 saving 345 jobs.

South Africa

Wickes embarked on a joint venture in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 in 1994 with Federated Blaikie, which saw six Wickes branded stores open in Johannesburg
Johannesburg
Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or Egoli, is the largest city in South Africa, by population. Johannesburg is the provincial capital of Gauteng, the wealthiest province in South Africa, having the largest economy of any metropolitan region in Sub-Saharan Africa...

 and Pretoria
Pretoria
Pretoria is a city located in the northern part of Gauteng Province, South Africa. It is one of the country's three capital cities, serving as the executive and de facto national capital; the others are Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein, the judicial capital.Pretoria is...

. Following the financial troubles the parent company encountered, the venture ended in 1997. The Wickes name was shortly after removed from all stores in South Africa.

Mainland Europe

The Wickes brand had ventured into some Northern Europe
Northern Europe
Northern Europe is the northern part or region of Europe. Northern Europe typically refers to the seven countries in the northern part of the European subcontinent which includes Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Finland and Sweden...

an nations (Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and the Netherlands) but after the financial irregularities uncovered in 1996, Wickes management believed that the only way to survive the troubles was to concentrate solely on their UK operations. In 1997 all mainland European operations were sold to the French DIY Chain Bricorama
Bricorama
Bricorama is a home improvement retailer based in Noisy-le-Grand, France. The company's first store was opened in 1975. Today it employs over 4000 people. It is a member of the CAC Small 90.- External links :* * *...

.

Ireland

Wickes has started an expansion into the Irish market
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

, opening its first Irish store as a franchise in Limerick city
Limerick
Limerick is the third largest city in the Republic of Ireland, and the principal city of County Limerick and Ireland's Mid-West Region. It is the fifth most populous city in all of Ireland. When taking the extra-municipal suburbs into account, Limerick is the third largest conurbation in the...

.

Wickes Showrooms

During the time when Wickes was part of the FocusWickes group, Wickes Showrooms were installed in several Focus DIY stores. Focus were historically weak in the sale of kitchens and conservatories. Wickes Showrooms allowed these Focus stores, normally in locations where there was not a Wickes store close-by, to offer the full Wickes showroom range. Following the demerger of Focus and Wickes, these showroom units were uninstalled from Focus stores.

In 2010 Wickes launched 5 Kitchen & Bathroom stores, which unlike the rest of the estate, stock no products in favour of large displays of both Kitchens & Bathrooms. However all Wickes products can be ordered through these stores for Home Delivery.

Focus Wickes Warehouse

Following the merger of Focus and Wickes, the company launched a cross branded store, "Focus Wickes Warehouse" in September 2001. Basically, the two stores melded into one, with a standard Wickes Store with the addition of the Focus "Softer end" range. One store was opened in Glasgow and at 100000 sq ft (9,290.3 m²), was around four times the size of a standard Wickes Store. This format was to be rolled out nationwide, but never expanded beyond its first store. Starting in 2003, Wickes Extra Stores emerged, which range in size from 50000 sq ft (4,645.2 m²) to 100000 sq ft (9,290.3 m²), and whilst larger than a standard Wickes Store, sell only an expanded range of Wickes' core products with no soft furnishings, an evolution of the previous format. The Focus Wickes Warehouse was converted to a Wickes Extra store in 2005.

Rivals

When B&Q
B&Q
B&Q plc is a multinational DIY and home improvement retailer headquartered in Eastleigh, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1969 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kingfisher plc, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange....

launched their "The Depot" format (later relaunched as B&Q Depot and again as B&Q Warehouse) it was widely seen as an attack on Wickes foothold in the crossover DIY/Builders Merchant market.

The most direct attack on their market share came in the early 1990s when the Great Mills DIY Chain launched Bay6 (Basics), with a small number of stores, mostly close to existing Wickes outlets. These stores were identical in size, look and layout to the Wickes stores. In 1995 Wickes bought the 6 Bay6 stores from Great Mills' parent company, RMC. (Four were already trading, two were under construction.) In return, Wickes sold 23 of their Builders Mate branded outlets to RMC.

Product range changes

In 2009 Wickes completely pulled out of the fitted bedroom and conservatory markets. Wickes had previously been the UK's largest conservatory retailers, but in a change of taste, conservatories were no longer considered big sellers, so Wickes dedicated their store space to an expanded kitchen and bathroom range instead.
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