Dixons Retail

Dixons Retail plc was one of the largest consumer electronics retailers in Europe, which merged with Carphone Warehouse in 2014 to create Dixons Carphone, which was renamed Currys plc in 2021. In the United Kingdom, the company operated Currys, Currys Digital, PC World (with stores increasingly dual-branded Currys PC World), Dixons Travel and its service brand Knowhow.

At the time of the merger in 2014, Dixons Retail had 530 outlets in the United Kingdom and Ireland and 322 in Northern Europe. Its Nordic and central European business was operated under the Elkjøp umbrella, and it also operated Kotsovolos in Greece. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

The company, formerly known as Dixons Group plc and later DSG International plc, specialised in selling mass market technology consumer electronics products, audio video equipment, PCs, small and large domestic appliances, photographic equipment, communication products and related financial and after-sales services such as extended service agreements, product set-up and installation, and repairs.

History

thumb|A Dixons store in [[Sheffield in 2000]]

Early years

Dixons was founded as a photographic studio by Charles Kalms and Michael Mindel in High Street in Southend under the name of Dixons Studios Limited, a company registered in October 1937 with a share capital of £100. The name Dixons, selected randomly from the telephone directory, was sufficiently short to fit above the small shop front.

Dixons was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1962, changing its name at that time to Dixons Photographic Limited. It bought out competitors Ascotts in 1962, and Bennetts in 1964. In 1972, Dixons bought another competitor, Wallace Heaton, and in 1974, it opened its Stevenage distribution centre.

In February 1993, Dixons bought Vision Technology Group (VTG), operating under the PC World brand at Croydon, Lakeside Shopping Centre, Brentford and Staples Corner. Later that year, the company sold VTG's mail order division, Dixons US Holdings Inc and Supasnaps.

2000s

In October 2002, Dixons bought UniEuro, an Italian-based electrical retailer, and Genesis Communications, a mobile phone service provider. The company opened its first Electro World store in Hungary in February 2002. In October 2005, Dixons Group plc changed its name to DSG International plc.

Further potential expansion came in April 2005, when DSGi bought an interest in Eldorado Group, the largest electrical retailer in Russia and Ukraine, with an option to buy the rest by 2011 for US$1.9 billion (about £1 billion GBP). This option was not pursued, DSGi withdrawing their interest in April 2007.

In May 2006, DSGi was awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise. In January 2008, DSGi announced that it would stop selling analogue televisions and only sell integrated digital televisions, in an effort to get consumers ready for the digital switchover.

In May 2008, DSGi announced that it would close 77 of its 177 Currys.digital shops in the United Kingdom, as their building leases expired over the following five years.

2010s

In May 2010, the company secured almost exclusive rights to sell the Apple iPad. In June 2010, DSGi changed its name to Dixons Retail plc.

Merger with Carphone Warehouse

In May 2014, Dixons announced a merger, that soon came to pass, with Carphone Warehouse; the combined company would have market capitalisation of around £3.8 billion. Dixons thus became a wholly owned subsidiary of Dixons Carphone Holdings Limited, and was renamed to Dixons Retail Group plc. Sebastian James, who had been Dixons CEO since 2012, was appointed as CEO of Dixons Carphone. The company is structured according to the international locations of its businesses and brands, as detailed below:

United Kingdom and Ireland

thumb|right|Dual branded "Currys PC World" store in Leeds

Brands comprise (40% of sales, largest market share in United Kingdom and Ireland):

Currys / PC World – specialises in home electronics and household appliances.
Team KnowHow – a provider of after-sales product support and cover.
Dixons Travel – a retailer operating in the main airports in the United Kingdom and Dublin International Airport in the Republic of Ireland.
DSGi Business – a specialist provider of IT solutions to business and the public sector.

Northern Europe

thumb|right|300px|Electro World store in [[Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic]]

Brands comprise (32% of sales, largest market share in Nordic countries and Czech Republic):

Southern Europe

Brands comprise (13% of sales, largest market share in Greece): – Includes Currys Essentials and PC World Essentials.

Logik – Registered as a trademark since 1989. Intended for everyday use with an "emphasis on reliability and efficiency" and "a better value alternative to the major name brands without compromising on performance."
Advent
Miranda – Originally the name of a Japanese company, Dixons acquired the brand in 1981, and used it on cameras and photographic kit. As of 2011, Dixons still owned rights to the name, but no longer used it and planned to sell it off. Dixons announced its intention to sell the brand off in May 2011. The brand was retired in 2010 as part of the company's rationalisation of own labels.
Carlton – was used by Currys for own brand white goods.

upright|thumb|A Prinzsound SM8, sold in the United States under the [[Weltron brand]]

Former businesses

Businesses formerly owned by or associated with Dixons include:

Mastercare Commercial Services, a business operating from a call centre offering IT services to IT businesses, which has since been rebranded as Knowhow.
Freeserve, an internet service provider, which was purchased by France Télécom and rebranded as Wanadoo in December 2000 (eventually rebranded/merged into Orange).
The Link, a mobile phone retailer based in the United Kingdom, sold to O2 in June 2006.
Freetalk, a VoIP business, whose customers were transferred to Vonage, a VoIP company based in the United States, in August 2006.
Pixmania, a French-based online retailer, which was acquired by Dixons Retail in April 2006, and sold in September 2013.
@Jakarta, a computer games store, which was sold to Gameplay.com in August 2000.

Financial results

The following table shows the company's financial results:

{| class="wikitable" style="border-collapse:collapse"

|+ DSG International plc financial results

! Fiscal year

! 2013

! 2012

! 2011

! 2010

! 2009

! 2008

! 2007

! 2006

! 2005

! 2004

! 2003

! 2002

! 2001

! 2000

! 1999

! 1998

! Fiscal year end date

! 30/04/13

! 28/04/12

! 01/05/11

! 01/05/10

! 02/05/09

! 03/05/08

! 28/04/07

! 29/04/06

! 30/04/05

! 01/05/04

! 03/05/03

! 27/04/02

! 28/04/01

! 29/04/00

! 01/05/99

! 02/05/98

| Turnover (£ millions)

| 8,213.9

| 8,186.7

| 8,154.4

| 8,531.6

| 8,227.0

| 8,545.9

| 7,929.7

| 7,072.0

| 6,982

| 6,491

| 5,750.5

| 4,888.2

| 4,688.2

| 3,889.9

| 3,156.3

| 2,791.9

| Profit before tax (£ millions)

|(115.3)

| 70.8

|(224.1)

| 112.7

|(140.4)

|(192.8)

| 295.1

| 302.9

| 336.8

| 366.2

| 278.6

| 282.3

| 647.1

| 472.1

| 231.3

| 213.3

| Profit for the period (£ millions)

|(168.1)

|(194.4)

|(245.3)

| 57.3

|(219.3)

|(259.7)

| 2.4

| 211.7

| 243.1

| 289.4

| 207.8

| 211.2

| 602.6

| 413.7

| 186.2

| 166.4

| Basic earnings per share (pence)

| (4.4)

| (4.3)

| (6.6)

| 1.7

|(10.2)

|(14.5)

| 10.9

| 11.7

| 12.6

| 14.4

| 10.7

| 11.0

| 31.5

| 22.5

| 41.1

| 36.9