When the company of Woolworths Ltd. was launched in 1924 only 30 people responded to the invitation to become shareholders. £11,700 was raised and the first Bargain Basement was opened in Sydney.

Today this company owns and operates 500 stores and supermarkets and has 50,000 shareholders on its register. The New Zealand company operates 55 of these stores and employs 2,000 people.

Expansion

Woolworths (N.Z.) Ltd. is now implementing a £1,000,000 expansion programme involving new stores, new supermarkets, new warehouses, rebuilding and modernisation of existing premises.

Managers Needed

The need for executive trainees is a continuing one, and in consequence an Executive Trainee Scheme is in operation. This course of instruction trains young men with higher education to manage stores and to fill other executive positions.

The course is an intensive one, culminating in a highly paid appointment. The qualities Wool-worths look for in an applicant are:

Men and women with a University education who possess these qualities are assured of a full and rewarding career with Woolworths.

A Trainee Manager discusses a Store Layout with an experienced executive.

Training

Training is carefully planned and supervised by a Senior Executive of the Company in conjunction with a branch manager.

All the basics are covered during this period and it culminates in the trainee's appointment as Section Manager. This is a Junior Executive position and entails responsibility for a section of a shop in regard to service to customers, staff training and control of stock. This target should be reached in two years.

Management

The next step is to Shop Management and being wholly responsible for a Woolworths branch, its staff, stock and turnover. The executive has now passed his first major milestone.

Promotion is now to larger branches, and then on to Zone or Head Office Management. Some of the avenues available are Buying Management, Top Management, Sales Promotion Management, District and Group Management, Stock Control Management and Distribution Management.

Selection

Applicants are carefully selected The qualities of determination keenness and pleasing personality are sought, and good health is prerequisite.

Woolworths believe that University training equips men and women to deal effectively with the problems of big business.

The Personnel Manager of Woolworths, Mr. V. H. Beadle, invites enquiries from graduates or undergraduates in Science, Arts or Commerce who feel that management in large-scale retailing would provide richer rewards than any other.

Bursaries

Woolworths offer a Bursary of £176 p.a. to university students who expect to complete their degrees in 1962. No bonding is required, but bursary holders are selected from young men who have the necessary qualities to become future Executives in the Company. One condition of the bursary is that students accept employment during vacations as part of their training.

Woolworths proposed Lower Hutt Supermarket. This exemplifies the trend towards "drive-in" shopping services.