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Woolworths Supermarkets (colloquially known as "Woolies") is a supermarket/grocery store chain in Australia, owned by Woolworths Limited. Along with Coles, Woolworths form a near duopoly of Australian supermarkets, together accounting for about 80% of the Australian market, however the Australian expansion of discount supermarket chain Aldi has challenged this duopoly in recent years. Woolworths mostly specialises in selling food (vegetables, fruit, meat, packaged foods, etc.), but they also sell magazines, DVDs and stationery items among other things. Woolworths currently operates 872 stores across Australia.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.woolworthslimited.com.au/page/Who_We_Are/Our_Brands/Supermarkets/Woolworths/ )〕 ==History== Woolworths Limited was founded in September 1924, originally under the name "Wallworths Bazaar Ltd", a play on the internationally renowned F. W. Woolworth name. After discovering the name had not been registered in Australia, and Woolworths had no plans for overseas expansion, the company became "Woolworths Limited" on 22 September 1924.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.woolworths.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/website/woolworths/about+us/our-story/september+1924 )〕 Following the company's first "Bargain Basement" opening on Sydney's Pitt Street, there was little interest in shareholders to accelerate the brand's growth. However, as trading continued and shareholders brought more capital, the dividends paid by the company increased from 5% to 50% after its third year of operation. Consumer interest in the company grew after December 1924, as more branches of the store were established across Australia. Woolworths stores began selling a variety of goods, claiming the cheapest prices as well as money back guarantees.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.woolworths.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/website/woolworths/about+us/our-story/december+1924 )〕 At the forefront of innovation in Australia, Woolworths stores became the first variety store in the world to install receipt printing cash register machines in 1926.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.woolworths.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/website/woolworths/about+us/our-story/printing+cash+registers+1926 )〕 Nearly twenty years after the company's establishment, Woolworths had a store in every state in Australia, following the opening of their Hobart store in 1940.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.woolworths.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/website/woolworths/about+us/our-story/tasmania+1940 )〕 With the company and its stores doing successfully, Woolworths began to experiment with expanding their grocery range; more stores began stocking fresh fruits and vegetables and a larger range of food. As Woolworths began to gradually transition to becoming exclusively a grocery store, this saw the creation of the first "Big W" store in 1955, the brand's department store counterpart. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Woolworths Supermarkets」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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