The Reject Shop is an Australian discount variety store chain. Founded in 1981 as a "seconds" store in South Yarra, Victoria, the company currently operates over 250 stores in Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales, Western Australia, Queensland, Tasmania and Australian Capital Territory. The Reject Shop employs over 3500 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 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.
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Famous quotes containing the words reject and/or shop:
“He who does not accept and respect those who want to reject life does not truly accept and respect life itself.”
—Thomas Szasz (b. 1920)
“For through the painter must you see his skill,
To find where your true image pictured lies,
Which in my bosom’s shop is hanging still,”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)