new zealand clothing retailer . for the song by james taylor see country road song . for the logic puzzle see country road puzzle . for the band see country road band . country road type private industry retail founded 1974 headquarters melbourne victoria australia wellington auckland christchurch new zealand key people darren todd managing director matt keogh ceo products clothing footwear accessories homewares furniture revenue 237.6 million fy06 07 number of employees 10 001 parent woolworths holdings limited website www.countryroad.com.au country road is a middle market clothing retailer located in australia new zealand and south africa with 68 free standing stores and 77 department store concessions . south african company woolworths holdings limited is the ultimate parent company of country road whose offer of 17 share as accepted on 4 september 2014 . 1 the brand has a customer loyalty program which enables members to receive special offers and early invitations to sales . it was changed in 2007 to require members to spend a minimum amount annually to receive benefits . the company produces women s clothing footwear & accessories ; men s clothing footwear & accessories ; children s clothing ; and homewares . in 1981 myer purchased country road but was sold in 1987 88 and listed on the share market . in 1984 country road began producing menswear then in 1986 it began producing accessories . in 1988 it expanded into homewares and the american market . in 1998 woolworths holdings limited acquired a controlling interest in the company . by 2000 01 country road had closed its american stores and started producing childrenswear . contents 1 history 2 references 3 further reading 4 external links history edit the company was founded in 1974 by stephen bennett initially as a shirt label . 2 it grew rapidly to become australia s first lifestyle brand . 2 by 1980 the company was selling women s apparel and had product in department stores as well as in 10 country road stores . 3 its growth during the 90s extended in both product range and location operating over 100 stores at its peak . it was relaunched in july 2004 as a company that has higher volume sales and lower product prices . in the years 2006 07 country road has reduced its prices by 25 % resulting in a 70 % rise in sales volume . prior to the re launch country road was a retailer with a premium price and a strong brand identity . until february 2016 the creative director for country road was sophie holt previously chief designer for women s fashion chain store witchery . its head office is located in richmond victoria the australian flagship store is located nearby in south yarra melbourne on chapel street . beginning 2003 country road entered into an exclusive agreement with myer department stores . under this agreement country road agreed to sell exclusively to myer and not to its main rival david jones . it also included joint marketing and in store visual merchandising . this arrangement ended in january 2007 when country road became a concession store in david jones and myer stores . there were also stores in boston chicago new york city and other cities in the united states as recent as 2000 or later which closed due to poor sales . during 2009 country road created the brand trenery which currently has over 50 stores across australia new zealand and south africa . in 2012 country road purchased witchery group which include witchery and mimco for 172 million . the takeover created one of the biggest speciality apparel retailers in australia with 517 stores and 679 million in annual sales . in 2014 country road launched a line of activewear called country road active as well as launching a jewelry line around the same time . during 2015 country road launched its homewares range in most david jones stores across australia . references edit http www.delisted.com.au company country road limited asx delistment of cty from market following woolworths acquisition . retrieved 9 june 2015 . a b the long road back . the age . the age . 2003 . retrieved 16 june 2011 . australian clothier grows in u.s. . new york times . the new york times company . 11 july 1989 . retrieved 10 october 2014 . further reading edit solly lew asks country road if it s fair dinkum the sydney morning herald 18 june 2004 . getting back on track sunday herald sun 20 january 2007 . myer grace bros and country road strengthen ties retrieved 12 may 2007 . business report south africa 25 october 2007 . australian exporters country road clothing retrieved 26 october 2007 . country road snaps up witchery smart company retrieved 10 april 2012 external links edit country road retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title country road & oldid 741649620 categories clothing retailers of australiaclothing brands of australiacompanies based in melbournecompanies listed on the australian securities exchangef . w. woolworth companydefunct retail companies of the united statescompanies established in 19741974 establishments in australiahidden categories use dmy dates from may 2011use australian english from may 2011all wikipedia articles written in australian english 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 ais edit links this page was last modified on 28 september 2016 at 20 55 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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