trading name michael hill jeweller type public traded as asx mhj nzx mhj industry retailing founded 1979 1979 whangarei new zealand headquarters brisbane australia number of locations 303 as at december 2015 1 area served australia new zealand canada united states key people michael hill founder president emma hill chairman mike parsell ceo & director products jewellery brands michael hill emma & roe revenue 489 million nzd 30 june 2011 2 website www.michaelhill.com.au au www.michaelhill.co.nz nz www.michaelhill.ca ca www.michaelhill.com us michael hill international ltd. is a specialty retailer of jewellery in north america and oceania . michael hill jeweller operates a retail jewellery chain of 296 stores as of june 2015 mhi annual report 2015 in australia new zealand canada and the united states with over 2 000 permanent employees . 2 the company s headquarters are in brisbane australia . contents 1 history 2 michael hill watches 3 timeline 4 references 5 external links history edit michael hill and family in front of their first store the company started in 1979 when michael hill and his wife christine opened their first store in the new zealand town of whangarei . a unique retail jewellery formula that included dramatically different store designs a product range devoted exclusively to jewellery and almost saturation levels of high impact advertising elevated the company to national prominence . 2 the company also received several international awards for window dressing from renowned brands such as bulova olympic and omega . 3 the company grew steadily expanding to 10 stores by 1987 the same year it listed on the nzx . also in this year michael hill jeweller expanded into australia opening four stores in four weeks . 4 in 2002 the company expanded into canada opening its first stores in vancouver . 3 michael hill now has a presence in five canadian provinces british columbia alberta saskatchewan manitoba and ontario . 2 in september 2008 the company entered the united states market by acquiring 17 stores in illinois and missouri from whitehall jewelers . 2 5 by mid 2013 over 60 % of overall sales were from australia only 20 % from new zealand with the rest from north america . 6 emma hill the daughter of michael hill will succeed him as chairman after the november 2015 annual general meeting . 7 michael hill watches edit in late 2006 following a five year trial 8 the company launched its own brand of watches under the michael hill name phasing out all but the citizen brand of watches by the middle of 2007 . 9 by mid 2008 only michael hill brand watches were available in the company s stores . 5 the watches range in design ; including sports watches with rubber bands and gold bonded watches featuring diamonds and mother of pearl faces timeline edit michael hill jeweller at the upper canada mall 1979 michael hill opens his first store in whangarei new zealand 10 1981 michael hill begins manufacturing his own jewellery in house . today over 80 percent of michael hill diamond rings are created by michael hill craftsmen in one of the world s largest jewellery manufacturing plants 10 1986 michael hill opens his seventh store in manukau city auckland . this store goes on to become the most profitable in the group employing over 20 full time staff 1987 michael hill jeweller lists on the nzx . later in the same year the company expands into australia with the opening of two new stores in chermside and indooroopilly queensland 2001 michael hill begins sponsorship of the michael hill international violin competition 2002 the first store in north america is opened in burnaby canada 2004 the 100th store is opened in mirrabooka western australia . the evermore diamond collection is introduced . 2006 the michael hill watch collection is launched . 9 2007 michael hill sponsors the first of three new zealand open golf competitions at his private golf course the hills . 2008 michael hill enters into the us market with the purchase of 17 stores in missouri and illinois . during the same year michael hill is announced the ernst & young entrepreneur of the year in new zealand 2009 the michael hill charms collection is launched . 11 2010 michael hill announces the closure of 8 stores in the united states as an attempt to scale back losses in the difficult economic environment . the remaining 9 stores are to be refurbished . 12 2011 michael hill sponsors the new zealand pga championship for a minimum of five years . it will be played at the hills golf club . 2012 michael hill opened a flagship store in elizabeth street in the melbourne cbd this year . the company also announced it was in a 40m nzd dispute with the australian taxation office . 13 2013 michael hill announced a new global brand including bridal products and other jewellery which was more feminine . 14 2014 sales in australia were described as lacklustre due to australian economic performance . 15 the company settled its dispute with the australian taxation office . 2015 the company opens a store in new york city in april 2015 . 16 australian sales improve after poor performance in that market during 2013 2014 . 17 sir michael hill moved to a new role of founder president as his daughter emma became chairman . 18 references edit 2015 half year report michael hill international a b c d e michael hill international 2010 . michael hill international annual report 2009 pdf . retrieved 2010 05 05 . a b hill michael 2009 . toughen up what i ve learned about surviving tough times . new zealand random house . pp. 203 204 . isbn 978 1 86979 046 2 . hill michael ; bryan staff 1994 . hello michael hill jeweller . new zealand penguin books nz ltd. isbn 978 0 670 86033 3 . a b michael hill buys into us . retrieved 6 may 2010 . fairfax nz ltd 17 february 2006 michael hill profit up 10 per cent retrieved 17 august 2013 harris catherine 15 august 2015 . following in dad s footsteps . the press . p. c15 . mckenzie minifie martha 25 august 2006 diamonds are this jeweller s best friend new zealand herald new zealand retrieved 2010 05 05 a b drinnan john 13 october 2006 jeweller counting on own watches new zealand herald new zealand retrieved 2010 05 05 a b michael hill international 2010 . michael hill company history . archived from the original on 2011 02 12 . retrieved 2010 05 05 . michael hill international 2010 . michael hill news . archived from the original on 2011 02 12 . retrieved 2010 05 05 . nzpa 2010 . michael hill scales back us operation . archived from the original on 2011 02 12 . retrieved 2010 06 08 . michael hill in trans tasman tax dispute . retrieved 2016 01 01 . walters laura 2013 10 30 . michael hill plans us bridal range . stuff.co.nz . retrieved 2016 01 01 . slag aussie sales hit michael hill . stuff . retrieved 2016 01 01 . michael hill opens new york store . stuff . retrieved 2016 01 01 . aussie market picks up for michael hill jewellery . retrieved 2016 01 01 . michael hill takes new founder president role within the jewellery chain . the national business review . retrieved 2016 01 01 . external links edit michael hill jeweller michael hill jeweller listing on the new zealand stock exchange v t e nzx 50 companies of new zealand as of september 19 2016 a2 milk company air new zealand anz argosy property auckland international airport chorus coats contact energy ebos fisher & paykel healthcare fletcher building fonterra shareholders fund freightways genesis energy goodman property trust heartland bank infratil kathmandu kiwi property mainfreight mercury energy meridian energy metlifecare metro performance glass nuplex nzx new zealand refining orion health group port of tauranga precinct properties property for industry restaurant brands ryman healthcare scales skycity entertainment sky network television spark stride property summerset tower trade me trustpower vector vista vital healthcare property trust the warehouse westpac xero z energy former nzx 50 companies partial list affco amp apn news & media cavalier diligent corporation fisher & paykel appliances goodman fielder lion nathan michael hill oceanagold pacific edge pgg wrightson pike river coal pumpkin patch rakon skellerup steel & tube telstra tourism holdings retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title michael hill jeweller & oldid 737135847 categories jewellery companies of new zealandjewelry retailers of the united statescompanies listed on the new zealand stock exchangejewellery retailers of australiaretail companies of new zealandjewellery retailers of canadacompanies based in brisbanecompanies established in 1979jewellery companieshidden categories pages using infobox company with unsupported parameters navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages fran aisbahasa indonesia edit links this page was last modified on 31 august 2016 at 23 55 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view