department store . for other uses see big w disambiguation . this article has multiple issues . please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article may rely excessively on sources too closely associated with the subject potentially preventing the article from being verifiable and neutral . please help improve it by replacing them with more appropriate citations to reliable independent third party sources . june 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message a major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject . it may require cleanup to comply with wikipedia s content policies particularly neutral point of view . please discuss further on the talk page . june 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message big w type subsidiary industry retail founded 1964 headquarters bella vista new south wales australia number of locations 186 key people sally macdonald ceo revenue a 4.11 billion 2015 1 operating income a 114 million 2015 1 number of employees 22 000 parent woolworths limited website bigw.com.au big w is an australian chain of discount department stores which was founded in regional new south wales in 1964 . the company is a division of woolworths limited and currently operates 186 stores with about 22 000 employees across australia and asia . contents 1 history 2 stores 3 services 4 references 5 external links history edit woolworths limited developed the big w brand to provide australian shoppers with a broad range of general merchandise products in a dedicated one stop shop . the big w chain grew out of woolworths limited s original variety stores which carried a small range of general merchandise products . the first big w stand alone store opened in 1964 at jesmond new south wales . big w s name reflects the complementary relationship it has with woolworths supermarkets . the separation of big w and woolworths supermarkets was largely completed by 1989 although a few woolworths variety stores continued to operate into the 1990s such as the one in rundle mall adelaide . citation needed stores edit in 2015 there were 186 big w stores trading across australia 63 in new south wales 46 in queensland 34 in victoria 17 in western australia 17 in south australia 5 in the australian capital territory 3 in tasmania and 1 trading in the northern territory . 2 services edit in 2007 big w began trialling the provision of optometry services in south australia and since then these services have been added to selected stores in queensland victoria new south wales and the australian capital territory . 3 big w were the first company in australia to use self serve checkouts which were introduced in 2003 on a trial basis in two of sydney s major stores and began expanding throughout australia in late 2005 . citation needed in august 2014 big w launched its first party store at rouse hill in new south wales and its second at the newly refurbished macquarie centre at north ryde in new south wales . there are currently 134 such stores across australia . 4 big w is the leading and largest physical retailer of books and toys in australia . citation needed references edit a b sales report . full year results financial year 2015 pdf . retrieved 10 november 2014 . store finder . big w. big w vision optical locations party stores . big w. external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to big w. official website v t e woolworths limited supermarkets progressive enterprises nz countdown freshchoice supervalue thomas dux grocer woolworths supermarkets liquor bws cellarmasters dan murphy s langton s woolworths safeway liquor hospitality australian leisure and hospitality group petrol caltex woolworths caltex safeway general merchandise big w home improvement danks home timber and hardware plants plus thrifty link hardware masters home improvement former divisions big fresh dick smith flemings food for less foodtown georgie pie price chopper new zealand rockmans safeway australia tandy australia woolworths new zealand related 2006 progressive enterprises dispute langton s classification of australian wine list of woolworths limited companies woolworths rewards retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title big w & oldid 742056073 categories companies established in 19641964 establishments in australiadiscount stores of australiawoolworths limitedhidden categories articles lacking reliable references from june 2016all articles lacking reliable referenceswikipedia articles with possible conflicts of interest from june 2016use dmy dates from march 2011pages using infobox company with unsupported parametersall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from august 2007articles with unsourced statements from december 2008articles with unsourced statements from june 2016commons category with local link same 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