Two local firms acquired

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33693, 16 November 1974, Page 20

Two local firms acquired

Williamson Jeffery, Ltd, the Dunedin-based manufacturing stationer and paper merchant, has entered the retail trade with the purchase of retail outlets in Auckland and Christchurch. Mr L. C. Nisbet, the chairman, said yesterday that the company had acquired a majority interest in R. K. Boyd, Ltd, Auckland, and in two Christchurch companies, Wallace Carswell (1974), Ltd, and Bruce Graham (1973), Ltd. R. K. Boyd and Wallace Carswell are both involved in selling commercial stationery, while Bruce Graham specialises in selling educational supplies to schools. The decision to enter the retail field was made for three basic reasons. “First of all, the extent of our manufacturing activities has reached a size where we considered it necessary to have access to the consumer, not only to present him our products, but also to obtain a direct feed back to ensure that products we make meet the requirements of the consumer.

“Secondly, we have a number of machinery agencies that demand a retail distribution. The third and final reason for this decision was that some of our wholesaler competitors already control retail outlets and we considered it important to maintain our relative position,” Mr Nisbet said.