Re:Inventing Demand
by ryanwaggoner on Friday September 04, 2009 @01:56AM
(#804360)
This isn't that uncommon in the US either: Sears, Macy's, Lord & Taylor, Nordstrom, Saks, Barneys, Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, Dillard's, JC Penney, Bloomingdale's, Marshalls, Albertsons, Kroger, etc.
Even Wal-Mart and Kmart carry part of their founder's names.
It takes a foreigner to see ourselves. Which dept/chain stores are you thinking of?
Owner's names: David Jones, Myers, Fletcher Jones,
Woolworths (==Safeway), Dick Smith, Ken Bruce
Corporate names: Just Jeans, Jeans West, Country Road, Safeway
I'm pretty sure these Australian stores originated in the US:
Target, Kmart, Tandy
Some interesting tidbits:
Woolworth was originally a major retailer in the US, which expanded into the UK in the early 20th century. The Australian Woolworth was so named to capitalize on the brand recognition from the US/UK retailer, which never operated in Australia, so had no trademark there. The last Woolworth stores in the US closed in the 90s.
Tandy was originally a leather goods company in Texas, named after its founder.
I've lived here all my live and never really noticed that.. you're absolutely correct however. Harvey Norman, David Jones, Grace Brothers, Joyce Mayne, Crazy Teds..
Re:Inventing Demand
by whatusername on Friday September 04, 2009 @01:34AM
(#804332)
founder more so than owner.. Thinking Coles, Myer, David Jones, etc here.. Those companies are all publicly listed now..
For current Owner I can think of Harvey norman, Bing Lee (although it doesn't exist in VIC, Ken Bruce, And Crazy John until he passed away..)
Also: Walmart.
Crazy John's name was Mustafa.
I didn't know that. Mustafa Ilhan was his real name, not John Ilhan. There you go.
"Crazy Mustafa's" doesn't have quite the same ring to it
More commonly heard angrily yelled out of car windows in Sydney Road.
Or the cook at Alaysa.
I'm surprised at the number of Aussies in here.
I noticed that too! A great Aussie success story brings us all out! :)
I am still a newcomer to Australia (~3 months) and I noticed a good deal of department and chain stores here have their owner's names. In the U.S. we have corporate names brands.