corporation industry retailing founded 1931 founder max sonnenberg headquarters 93 longmarket street cape town south africa area served south africa australia key people ian moir ceo simon susman non executive chairman products clothing footwear accessories groceries beauty products homeware and financial services . revenue r58 .06 billion 2015 1 operating income r5 .59 billion 2015 1 net income r3 .12 billion 2015 1 number of employees 18 563 south africa only divisions woolworths proprietary limited country road australia david jones australia woolworths financial services website www.woolworthsholdings.co.za woolworths.co.za woolworths store in somerset mall showing the current branding . woolworths food store in johannesburg showing the old branding . woolworths holdings limited jse whl is a south african chain of retail stores and one of the largest in the country modelled on marks & spencer of the united kingdom . 2 this relationship with britain s marks and spencer was formed after the second world war which led to the retailer buying all of the unissued share capital of woolworths in 1947 . these shares were later sold but close ties still remain . 3 the first woolworths store opened in the old royal hotel in cape town in october 1931 . it was founded by max sonnenberg assisted by his son richard and fred kossuth . the woolworths brand incorporates a series of food stores some of which are attached to department stores while others stand alone or are attached to engen petrol stations in prosperous urban areas . some branches include an in store restaurant branded as cafe w . woolworths goods are sold at 149 corporate stores 51 international franchise stores throughout the rest of africa and the middle east and 69 south african franchise stores nationwide . woolworths sells clothing and accessory items under a number of premium brands namely country road witchery mimco and trenery . the chain was named after the united states chain f. w. woolworth company but because of the contemporary trademark laws the name was legally used without permission . no financial connection ever existed between the companies . similarly woolworths holdings limited is not to be confused with woolworths limited an australian retail company . contents 1 history 2 stores 3 controversy 3.1 christian magazines 3.2 soft drink imitation 3.3 affirmative action 3.4 plagiarism 4 see also 5 references history edit founded by max sonnenberg and his son richard woolworths south africa first opened its doors on 30 october 1931 in plein street cape town in what had been the stately dining room of the famous royal hotel . while sonnenberg had no affiliation with woolworths in europe north america or australia his plan was to develop a chain of stores based on woolworths australasia ltd. a pivotal point in woolworths history came after world war ii when the company established its relationship with marks & spencer m & s of london . sonnenberg and sir simon marks son of the m & s founder became good friends which led to m & s buying all unissued share capital of woolworths in 1947 . later david susman woolworths managing director married ann laski lord marks niece . david susman became a non executive director of m & s a position he held for nearly 30 years . although m & s ultimately sold its shares of woolworths the two companies maintained close personal ties as well as a formal technology agreement . woolworths merged with truworths in 1981 to form the wooltru group jse wlo . over a twenty year relationship the company underwent much change and transformation that significantly improved sales and profits before it was partially unbundled from the group in 1997 . in 1998 the company bought a controlling interest in australian clothing retailer country road . 3 woolworths became fully independent again in 2001 . 3 simon susman david s son became chief executive of woolworths in 2000 . 4 david susman died on 11 may 2010 at the age of 84 . simon susman resigned from his post as ceo at the end of 2010 . 4 in 2014 woolworths acquired australian department store david jones for 2.15 billion . 5 6 woolworths then announced that country road ceo iain nairn would succeed paul zahra as chief executive . 7 following the takeover to fund part of the purchase woolworths offered for sale the iconic 1938 market street store . stores edit woolworths operated through both corporate and franchise stores throughout south africa and neighbouring countries . various store formats include full line stores food stand alone stores food and homeware lifestyle stores stores offering textiles clothing footwear and homeware . only a selection of merchandise is also available online . cafes offering organic teas and coffees as well as light meals are situated at some larger stores while several stores also offer a tapas bar style restaurant . 8 in 2015 woolworths was acclaimed the best store for customer care in accordance with the south african customer index . 9 controversy edit christian magazines edit in october 2010 woolworths came under fire as they opted to remove christian magazines from their shelves and discontinue their sale . this was met with a huge outcry from the christian community many voicing that they would boycott the chain store . 10 their facebook fan page was flooded with opinion both positive and negative . woolworths maintained it was strictly a business decision with ceo simon susman attributing their decision with the diminishing number of sales for these magazines ; we are currently reviewing all magazines sold by woolworths . we will continue to remove magazines from our shelves that aren t popular with clients . we aim not to offend any community by this policy said susman regarding the decision . 10 however woolworths vowed to put the five christian magazines back on its shelves following a public outcry over the withdrawal of the titles . 11 soft drink imitation edit in early 2012 the south african advertising standards authority ruled that woolworths vintage cold drink range was an imitation of frankie s soft drinks range . it was ruled that woolworths intentionally copied the phrase good old fashioned soft drinks to promote its own line of beverages thereby infringing on the rights of frankie s soft drinks . woolworths agreed to remove the range immediately . 12 after the event woolworths south africa s ceo ian moir publicly stated that public opinion is so much against us and whether we re right or whether we re wrong customer opinion is against us . 13 affirmative action edit see also black economic empowerment in september 2012 woolworths was accused of racism by some groups 14 for allegedly discriminating against white job applicants and staff . the accusations followed after claims that the retailer s advertising on their career site said its jobs are only open to african coloured and indian candidates . 15 shortly after the incident woolworths changed the advert text to say in accordance with woolworths employment equity approach preference will be given to candidates from designated groups . 14 plagiarism edit in october 2013 rumours of plagiarism surfaced when euodia roets a south african artist accused woolworths of using her designs that were kept as samples after contract negotiations failed . 16 17 in her article euodia roets shows illustrative images of her design and compares it to a cushion later sold by woolworths on which a strikingly similar design was used . woolworths denied these allegations on their website . 18 in her allegations euodia roets also claimed if that text is in fact from wikipedia wiki requires attribution on all commercial use of their text . you d be correct in assuming woolies did no such thing . . the text used on the design is an exact match of portions of text lifted from wikipedia s hummingbird article without attribution in violation of its creative commons license . when pressed on the matter the official woolworths south africa twitter account opined that we ve checked with our lawyer ; wikipedia does not own the content . 19 see also edit list of woolworth divisions and namesakes references edit a b c woolworths annual report 2015 pdf . woolworths holdings limited . 2015 . retrieved 5 december 2015 . david b. yoffie 7 october 1997 . higher education harvard business publishing a b c the investment case woolworths holdings ltd 101 for beginners moneyweb a b woolworths ceo resigns fin24 companies retail myer response to david jones announcement . asx media release australia . 9 april 2014 . retrieved 15 april 2014 . david jones board recommends a 4.00 cash per share proposal . asx media release australia . 9 april 2014 . retrieved 15 april 2014 . speedy blair 12 august 2014 . iain nairn to head david jones as paul zahra quits . news corp australia . the australian . retrieved 12 august 2014 . woolworths what we offer http www.woolworths.co.za caissa.asp page itb4 rhcontext & post o home cafes info best and worst clothing stores in south africa . businesstech.co.za . retrieved 5 december 2015 . a b woolworths bans christian mags news24 south africa news woolworths repents times live peters sherlissa 2 february 2012 . woolworths to remove entire soft drinks range . iol . retrieved 6 june 2012 . nicolson greg 1 february 2012 . frankie s vs. woolworths good old fashioned david and goliath battle . daily maverick . retrieved 6 june 2012 . a b peter church 3 september 2012 . racist woolworths sa defiant . sa promo . retrieved 14 january 2013 . fadia salie 4 september 2012 . woolworths douses racial fires . news 24 . retrieved 14 january 2013 . 1 how woolworths really operates pedeboy delphine 21 october 2013 . copyright credit woolworths and the hummingbird . ground up . retrieved 26 july 2016 . 2 cushion design allegation woolworths south africa twitter . twitter . retrieved 22 october 2013 . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title woolworths south africa & 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