BBRC is a private investment company founded by Australian businessman Brett Blundy .
62-453: BBRC could refer to: BBRC (investment company) , an Australian private investment company Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications , a biological journal British Birds Rarities Committee Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title BBRC . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
124-474: A safety pin . Knowing that most lingerie at that time were beige in colour with unflattering cuts, he wanted to sell underwear in various cuts and colours, alongside G-strings that were unheard of for casual wear. Three months later, he took out his first franchise in The Bra Shop chain at Chirnside Park Shopping Centre , mainly selling brand name product, but gradually sourcing different lines independently of
186-563: A 50 per cent shareholding in EzyDVD which had 15 stores at the time, while the company also bought the 19-store footwear company, Ghetto, from Blundy's Yoda Holdings. During this period of expansion, CEO Brett Blundy admitted that the Sanity chain needed to be restructured. He blamed heavy discounting in the DVD market, where large chains such as Kmart , Target and Big W accounted for more than one-third of
248-612: A bid to take full control and privatise the company at $ 0.78. But after this announcement, shares rallied over Blundy's offer and the Australian Shareholders Association attacked the move, saying it was an abuse of the Corporations Act to use recycled money from Brazin to buy out their own minority shareholders. A month later, Blundy withdrew the bid, offering little explanation, to the public bemusement of some Brazin executives. In August 2003, Brazin acquired
310-466: A business partner he met from school bought two rundown record stores called Disco Stick. They immediately closed one, combined the stock into the Pakenham store (situated in a small shopping arcade) and reopened as Jetts, selling vinyl records and cassettes . The lease for this store was for a three-year period, but it was losing money from day one. Blundy and his partner found another unloved record store
372-699: A digital music download service caused consternation within the industry when they signed a five-year deal with Festival Mushroom Records for a three-year online exclusivity window on all tracks downloaded from the label at Sanity's website. Rival retailers or other online services were meant to be blocked from Festival Mushroom's catalogue for that period unless Sanity chose to strike separate deals with their rivals to let them in. Chaos.com and Leading Edge Music both made public threats to boycott Festival Mushroom's content, but HMV Australia (whose website did not offer downloading) followed through, removing all their CDs from their domestic stores, adding they were would do
434-498: A multi-level car park with new cinemas to open above. The Westfield Shoppingtown Library was also demolished and moved temporarily to the Municipal Offices which has since become its permanent location. Westfield Doncaster also introduced a new service called Westfield Butler to assist those unable to physically shop at the centre and perform other tasks for customers, including planning events and functions. Another new service
496-519: A new food court known as the Drum located on the corner of Williamsons and Doncaster Roads and new restaurants on the rooftop level. A new bus interchange and over 1500 extra parking spaces were added in a new 6 level parking lot with an LED system indicating free spaces. A new red "wave wall" piece of public art was constructed on the corner of Williamsons Road and Doncaster Road and the Myer Building and
558-650: A private company in its own right. As a result of the split, Pulse cards could only be used in BBRC's remaining store portfolio of Dusk, Diva, and Adairs. In November 2013, Sanity owner, Ray Itaoui, together with Blundy, each bought 50 per cent stakes in Bras 'N' Things, from private equity consortiums, ANZ and IMF Investors. Announcing the deal, Blundy said to the media, "Today, more than ever, I believe in Bras 'N' Things and our business model. I believe in our customer and I believe in our people." Asked about Itaoui, he added, "Ray has done
620-407: A remarkable job with Sanity. We have always worked well together and I'm excited about our next venture taking Bras 'N' Things to the next level." In February 2018, Bras 'N' Things was sold to Hanes Australasia for an estimated AU$ 500 million. In November 2007, BB Retail Capital bought an 80 per cent stake in specialty manchester and soft furnishing retailer, Adairs, from its long-term owners,
682-622: A small shop owned by the Serpell family, well-known early European settlers in the area. In the 1930s it became known as 'White's Corner Store' after its operator changed hands. In the late 1960s, they sold the site to the Westfield Corporation who began construction of the new shopping centre. When Westfield Doncaster officially opened on 30 September 1969, it was Westfield's first venture in Victoria. The original $ 12-million complex consisted of
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#1733084662289744-620: A symbolic £2, and in turn gaining exclusive license rights in Australia for Virgin Entertainment (which last traded in Australia nine years before under the co-ownership of the Virgin Group and Blockbuster Inc. ). Brazin paid £7.7 million (A$ 21.8 million) to the Virgin Group while getting that exact amount back from Virgin for tax reasons. Brazin's managing director, Ian Duffel said that the UK music market
806-529: A total of 7,575 spaces), building a 14 storey "gateway tower" on a 2 storey podium, reconfigure the bus interchange and move the main vehicle entrance on Williamsons Road further north. This was approved on 20 May 2019 by the state government, with the Minister for Planning (see Second Andrews Ministry ) Richard Wynne claiming 2,000 jobs will be created during construction, and 2,900 full and part time positions will be created upon completion. Kmart returned to
868-509: A year later, Brazin stated that after a rocky start (with staff recruitment issues and aligning products with the typical Myer customer), Virgin at Myer was up 45 per cent on comparative sales and was performing well. In December 2004, Brazin acquired Perth based candle and gift-ware retailer Dusk, which operated 41 outlets at the time. In October 2005, Brazin acquired the Australian operations of HMV . The HMV Group's agreement with Brazin
930-480: A year later, this time within a bigger shopping district at Parkmore Shopping Centre, Keysborough , supported by a larger surrounding population. Before they purchased it, the Parkmore store was turning over $ 2,000 a week, but six months later as a Jetts outlet, it had increased to $ 15,000, and was subsidising the failing Pakenham store which was closed once the lease had expired. The Parkmore outlet lasted until 2010 under
992-499: A year of testing in the market. It worked by giving the customer one point for every dollar spent across the Sanity/Virgin/HMV/IN2 Music/EzyDVD/Bras 'N' Things/Dusk/Diva/Ghetto/Insane store network, receiving a $ 5 discount voucher or other offers once 100 points were reached. Earlier in 2005, Brazin dropped the underperforming Ghetto and Insane chains while picking up women's fashion accessories retailer, Diva –
1054-566: Is a large shopping centre and public transport interchange in the eastern suburb of Doncaster in Melbourne , Victoria , Australia . It was the first shopping centre built by the Westfield Group in Victoria. Located on the corner of Williamsons Road and Doncaster Road in Doncaster Hill , it forms a central component of strategic planning to develop housing and employment centres in
1116-526: Is serviced by a number of bus routes. These routes utilise the major bus interchange on the Williamsons Road side of the shopping centre, serving as a major hub for transport activity in the Doncaster region. The 907 SmartBus , which provides a frequent, direct route to the city, doesn't enter the interchange, using stops next to the centre on Doncaster Road instead. Throughout the 1970s the Doncaster line
1178-842: The Australian Securities Exchange in December of that year with an initial public offering at $ 1.50 a share. Blundy retained a 62% stake in the company. In June 1998, it acquired 27 outlets from the Brashs music chain on its demise via its administrators, KPMG , and the two remaining stores from Blockbuster Music in Pitt Street , Sydney , and Chapel Street , Melbourne – relaunching all of them as Sanity music stores on an ongoing basis (with staff, leases, etc. continuing at each store). After these acquisitions, Sanity and Delta had 148 outlets combined with Brazin publicly stating their aim
1240-475: The City of Manningham and to the Minister for Planning (see First Andrews Ministry ) for approval to expand by nearly a third with substantial car parking, and build a 14 story tower taller than the existing office tower that may stand out over the skyline. The plan would add 43,000 sqm of retail floor space and 18,000 sqm of office floor space (north of the existing building), add 2,793 more car parking spaces (to make
1302-732: The Myer department store chain. Brazin agreed to buy all of Myer's remaining CD and DVD stock, recruit, train and pay their own staff, and work within Myer's systems and promotions. These concept stores were marketed separately to stand-alone Virgin Megastores (due to their more limited stock availability) and were branded Virgin at Myer. This solved Brazin's problem since 2002 by separating the Virgin and Sanity target markets by making Virgin more "family orientated" while leaving Sanity's "street edge" to continue. Exactly
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#17330846622891364-452: The Jetts, Delta, and Sanity branding. In 1986, Blundy and his business partner went their separate ways with Blundy selling his 60% stake in the eight-store Jetts chain to his former partner for $ 600,000. This left Blundy to pursue an idea he had three months before the Jetts sell-off, after he noticed one of his "fashionable" female store managers kept wearing a broken bra , held together with
1426-619: The MacLean family. Adairs operated 90 stores at that stage. BBRC previously owned a 62 per cent stake in Australian-based lingerie chain Honey Birdette . In June 2021, PLBY Group acquired Honey Birdette for A$ 443 million in cash and stock. In December 2017, BBRC acquired a 17.99 per cent stake in footwear retailer and distributor Accent Group . BBRC sold off its stake in August 2024. BBRC
1488-822: The Office Tower were repainted. A number of new and upgraded building and carpark entrances were also included as part of the works. The number of retail shops doubled to 400, which made it one of the largest shopping centres in Australia . It was finished on 16 October 2008. During construction, Kmart shut down temporarily and was replaced by two new discount department stores – Big W and Target . Coles and Woolworths both closed in January 2007 and both supermarkets re-opened on Thursday 10 April 2008. The Village Twin Cinemas on Williamsons Road were demolished in September 2006 to make way for
1550-546: The UK for a very short while as rebranding was yet to occur, until Primemist immediately struggled to operate the chain due to difficulties with credit and stock purchasing, thus, entered administration in December 2003, progressively shutting 99 outlets as buyers for the entire business or individual parts of it could not be found. By April 2004, administrators BDO Stoy Hayward then closed the last 19 Sanity/Our Price stores. In July 2004, Brazin entered into an agreement with Coles Myer to open 62 Virgin concept stores within
1612-479: The Virgin Group for £2 million. Earlier that year, Brazin experienced many delays in rebranding the Our Price stores due to landlords , heritage listings, and negotiations with Railtrack . The company also shifted Sanity UK's headquarters from Our Price's central London offices to Alperton . The new British outlets were already starting to return on investments and overall company operating profit rose to 32 per cent in
1674-466: The addition of a greengrocer . Other changes included renovations to the existing Myer department store and additions of new anchor tenants Big W , Target new David Jones and a Borders bookshop (now closed). New shops were added into the greatly expanded retail space such as JB Hi-Fi , Dick Smith (now closed), a larger 9 screen Village Cinemas , a gym which replaced the Doncaster Library,
1736-467: The area by Manningham City Council . It is located 12 kilometres east of the CBD and is one of the biggest shopping centres in Victoria. Today it is one of the largest shopping centres in Australia with a gross leasable floor area of 123,126 square metres. It is 50% owned by Scentre Group , 25% by ISPT, and 25% by Asia Property Fund. The site of the present-day buildings was formerly occupied by orchards and
1798-400: The centre entrance and an upgraded bus interchange which opened with upgraded shelters and other facilities. Myer David Jones Woolworths Coles Kmart Big W Village 9 Cinemas Rebel Sport JB Hi-Fi TK Maxx Baby Bunting In July 2016, Westfield submitted a $ 500 million expansion masterplan, aimed at competing against other shopping centres such as Eastland Shopping Centre to
1860-535: The centre expand further. A second level of shops was added to the south end including Franklins and a fresh food court above Coles and Kmart. However, as the 21st century arrived, time had dulled the looks of the centre following redevelopments of other Westfield centres such as Westfield Southland , Fountain Gate and even Sydney 's Bondi Junction . The centre was further redeveloped in 1995. The fourth group of changes began in 2007 and involved significant changes to
1922-436: The centre in mid 2021, replacing Target which closed permanently on 20 March 2021. The new Westfield Doncaster now features more than 200 new retailers for a total around 400, a Village Cinemas complex and dining areas that take advantage of the site's elevated views towards the city skyline. The works required the closure of around 100 stores during 2007 and early 2008, with Myer the only major store remaining open throughout
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1984-563: The centre manager, even though it was earmarked for another music retailer (that store ceased trading in 2010). Also in that year, Blundy's company started the designer, marketer and distributor (no shopfronts) of women's surfwear brand, Aztec Rose. In 1997, the company acquired 14 CC Records outlets in Victoria , folding them into the Sanity/Delta network. Brazin Limited also listed publicly with
2046-485: The company purchased a further 23 CC Records stores in South Australia and Queensland , and re-branded more Delta outlets. In May 1999, the company created Viva Lingerie, targeting a different demographic to Bras 'N' Things – the former, focused on young, price-conscious women. Also in that year, Brazin acquired another 9 lingerie retail stores from Triumph International. In March 2000, Sanity's first foray into
2108-503: The company's entire 344-store Sanity/Virgin/HMV network withdrew sales data from the ARIA Charts , with Brazin CEO, Greg Milne citing the need for more updated day-to-day charts over ARIA 's reliance on weekly information. However, it was reported that allegedly Brazin attempted to make ARIA pay an annual fee between $ 200,000 and $ 300,000 for their data through Sydney-based research firm, GFK. This
2170-581: The complex. The process commenced with planning approval in May 2004, preliminary works taking place at the centre from September to December 2006, which provided a platform for the main construction works that commenced on 15 January 2007. Doncaster Hill developers met several times with City Council over the next twelve months to discuss creating more sustainable buildings for the community but these plans did not progress. The refurbishment included renovations to anchor tenants Coles and Woolworths supermarkets, and
2232-505: The end of 2008, BBRC sold its controlling interest in Bras 'N' Things to ANZ and IMF Investors. In September 2009, CEO Brett Blundy sold the Entertainment Division of BB Retail Capital – which included the remaining 238 Sanity/Virgin/HMV store network – to BBRC's Head of Entertainment, Ray Itaoui, in a management buy-out . Still retaining its Milperra headquarters (which Brazin used to operate in), Sanity Entertainment became
2294-628: The end of June 2000 saw Sanity contain 233 outlets, and Bras 'N' Things with 120. In January 2001, Ian Duffell was appointed CEO with Brett Blundy moving down to run Brazin's strategic development, however eight months later he relinquished the position swapping roles with Blundy again. Duffell remained a director until April 2003. In October 2001, Sanity expanded into the United Kingdom via two related transactions with Richard Branson 's Virgin Group , acquiring 77 troubled Our Price music stores for
2356-445: The end of rental leases. The remaining stores were re-branded to Sanity over the next five years. The one notable exception to closing HMV stores in 2005 saw Brazin instead close its large Sanity store 60 meters away on the corner of Bourke Street Mall and Causeway Lane which had operated since 1996 (that space in now occupied by a Forever New clothing store). Also in that month, Brazin officially launched its Pulse loyalty card after
2418-417: The failed Jetts chain from the liquidators at a discount and began to progressively rebrand them as Delta music stores. Also in that year, with Bras 'N' Things expanded to 60 stores around the country, Bryan Luca started to progressively sell his remaining Victorian Bra Shop outlets to Blundy in groups of six at a time with all eventually being sold and renamed to Bras 'N' Things The Sanity concept and brand
2480-606: The first Virgin Megastore , in Chapel Street 's The Jam Factory shopping centre, in April 2002. Brazin also intended to use the Virgin brand to open 45 new stores in addition to converting 55 of its existing IN2 Music stores that had not already been rebranded as Sanity. However, the program stalled as Brazin battled internal disruptions and struggled to separate the target markets for Virgin and its chain of more than 200 Sanity stores (at
2542-457: The former raising questions about Blundy's role at Brazin. In February 2006, Brazin rolled out in-store kiosks where customers could select their own songs to either burn on a CD or download directly into an MP3 player. Fast Tracks Kiosks were initially installed in Sydney's Sanity/Virgin/HMV stores, with plans to go country-wide if successful. Yet, Brazin chose not to proceed. In May 2006,
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2604-437: The four-storey Myer department store at the north end, two levels of shops running along the west side to the, then white, eight-storey office tower. On the east side the two layers of shops merged into one layer, then finished at a Coles New World supermarket. In 1979, the centre was extended south with two single-storey rows of shops; Kmart , Coles and Village Twin Cinemas. A major redevelopment completed in 1992 saw
2666-545: The franchise (his first run of 15 G-strings sold out in one day). Bryan Luca, the franchisor of The Bra Shop, entered into an agreement with Blundy to buy his three Victorian stores in exchange for Luca's four underperforming Bras N Things outlets in New South Wales and a guarantee to not trade in Victoria. Brazin Limited officially commenced operation after Blundy expanded Bras 'N' Things into South Australia and then Queensland . In 1990, Brazin Limited bought back
2728-563: The industry's sales. (Within Sanity itself, DVD sales accounted for 30% in 2003, compared to just 6% in 2001.) More short-term, its six Sanity and Virgin music stores at Sydney Airport , Melbourne Airport , and London Heathrow Airport , were hit hard by fewer passengers, spooked by the Iraq War and SARS , cancelling many flights. Yet, Brazin continued with their strategy of not discounting its regular line of CDs and DVDs to meet heavy discounters and rapidly expanding rivals, such as JB Hi-Fi which
2790-411: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=BBRC&oldid=1175326507 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages BBRC (investment company) In 1980, 20-year-old Brett Blundy and
2852-418: The pressures of the share market. Brazin's board and remaining shareholders agreed to Blundy's offer, leaving Brazin to be folded into BB Retail Capital and ceasing to exist in its own right. In March 2008, after months of delay and development, Sanity responded to the expanding Internet media environment by launching an online music subscription service in partnership with Microsoft called, LoadIt. However
2914-667: The project, except for a short period when the store itself was refurbished. In November 2020, a new rooftop dining precinct, Doncaster Dining, was opened during Victoria's second COVID-19 lockdown . At a cost of $ 30 million, the existing second floor (in the southern section of the shopping centre, near Doncaster Road) and a section of the car park near Village Cinemas was renovated to include 12 new shops and remake 2 existing shops. The stores include TGI Fridays , an American grill; Dohtonbori, named in reference to Dōtonbori with its second Australian restaurant; Lanzhou Noodle House; and Little Bangkok Thai amongst others. The shopping centre
2976-480: The same overseas. But the next week, Festival Mushroom backed down, stating Sanity would simply be the wholesaler of their digital downloads for the next three years, requiring them to make all products available to other retailers at the time of release. In June of that year, Brazin opened the Gosh Coffee chain with an aim of 50 outlets within the year and ultimately reaching 200 to 300 nationwide. The store count at
3038-437: The same period, Brazin's founder and majority shareholder, Brett Blundy, used his fully owned private retail investment company, BB Retail Capital, to buy the remaining 37.6 per cent of the company he did not already own and make it private. He said that with "stagnant profits, market uncertainty around Brazin's entertainment business and challenging retail market conditions", the company would be better off in private hands without
3100-403: The service was scrapped only four months after its launch as its popularity was hindered by uncompetitive pricing, restricted usability and heavy competition from BigPond and iTunes services. According to IBISWorld, the tough times experienced by Sanity after being folded into BBRC resulted in its revenue declining 16 per cent in financial year 2008-09 and a further 21 per cent in 2009–10. By
3162-527: The time). As a result, the company's entertainment division posted a $ 27 million loss in financial year, 2002–03, and by mid-2004, Brazin had only managed to open 12 Virgin Megastores. By the end of this year, Brazin sold out of its loss-making Gosh Coffee 16-store chain (of which, six were sold to Freshfood Hospitality Pty Ltd with three still in operation today), and City Live nightclub at Fox Studios in Sydney. In November 2002, an additional 41 British VShop music and mobile phone stores were acquired from
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#17330846622893224-481: The year to 30 June 2002 to $ 22.1 million with Sanity-branded outlets then numbering 291 in Australia. In June 2003, with Brazin's shareprice languishing at $ 0.55, some business analysts criticised the company's strategy of aggressive expansion in the Sanity brand – which they said may be cannibalising sales from sister stores – instead of concentrating on lifting the performance of existing outlets. Under this cloud, Blundy's retail investment company, Yoda Holdings, made
3286-402: Was 'Westfield Gizmo' that offered customers a technology installation, upgrade or maintenance service. Staff are titled "gizmotechs", and can arrange both home visits or to assist shoppers choosing technology in the centre at a fixed price. Both of these services no longer exist. In February 2008, a temporary bus interchange opened closer to Willamsons Road. This was to make way for changes to
3348-416: Was (and still is) eating away at Sanity's market share. Blundy cited the very thin profit margins gained from such discounts as the main reason for keeping prices near the recommended retail price . (In August 1996, Sanity's general manager, Daniel Agostinelli, told Billboard that each CD sold in the 60-store chain then made 27.5% gross profit before subtracting 24% in costs.) Also in this month, Greg Milne
3410-432: Was appointed CEO, leaving Blundy to again move down to head strategic development. In September 2003, even after increasing profitability across their store network, Brazin Limited sold all 118 Sanity UK stores (those, being the rebranded Our Price and VShop stores) to an investment firm called Primemist Limited, for an estimated £5 million (A$ 16.67 million), citing higher expectations not met. The Sanity name lived on in
3472-456: Was denied by Brazin, but six months later the company resumed data collection for ARIA. At that stage, Brazin's Entertainment Division included 254 Sanity, 22 HMV, 6 Virgin Megastores, and 62 Virgin at Myer stores. Some record label executives estimated their combined music retail market share at between 28% and 35%. In November 2006, after more than a year of a falling share price while average S&P/ASX 200 prices had gone up 21 per cent in
3534-485: Was established and introduced by Brazin in 1992 with its first store at Doncaster Shoppingtown . This occurred by chance thanks to Blundy's working knowledge of Doncaster Shoppingtown, as – while running his five-store company in the late 1980s – he worked as a casual shop assistant in its Just Jeans store to learn more about its culture and internal processes. When he found out the centre's only record shop closed without notice he brazenly talked his way into that lease with
3596-473: Was for 250 nationwide. The share price was now up to $ 2.29. In September 1998, Brazin introduced IN2 Music stores by converting three Delta outlets in North Queensland and outer Melbourne. Like Delta, IN2 Music targeted a wider demographic than Sanity's focus on the youth 16-26 age group, giving Brazin more scope after the collapse of adult-orientated chain, Brashs. IN2 Music expanded the next year after
3658-627: Was mooted to run down the middle of the Eastern Freeway , with a station at Westfield Doncaster. By 1984 land for the line once it left the freeway had been sold, and by 1991 an independent report investigating construction of the line recommended against it due to the high cost of underground construction. Various plans have also been made for extension of tram route 48 north from Balwyn North to Doncaster. A 2008 report released by pt4me2 (a local group pushing for rail transit in Manningham) suggests
3720-482: Was one of the strongest in the world that year and he expected a, "50 per cent increase in music revenues from day one." Further to the deal, Virgin would get 1 per cent of all turnover in the stores in conjunction to offering Brazin a £2 million loan facility. Brazin also made a commitment to restrict the size and proximity of its Sanity UK stores in order to ensure they do not pose a large competitive threat to Virgin's other music shops. In Australia, Brazin re-established
3782-573: Was part of a consortium of three investors which acquired the fashion retail chain Universal Store for $ 110 million in June 2018. The company went public on the Australian Securities Exchange on 17 November 2020. In 2020, BBRC acquired a 35 per cent stake in footwear company Bared Footwear. In March 2024, BBRC acquired a 40 per cent stake in fashion label Dissh. Westfield Doncaster Westfield Doncaster (formerly Doncaster Shoppingtown )
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#17330846622893844-677: Was to phase out the HMV brand in Australia by 2010. Immediately after this acquisition of HMV's 32 outlets, this put Brazin at its peak with its 74 Virgin stores in addition to Sanity's 215 and EzyDVD's 63 outlets around the country (not counting non-entertainment retail chains within Brazin such as, Bras 'N' Things) and was by far Australia's largest entertainment retailer with close to 43% of the music retail market. However, most HMV stores in Australia had very high overhead costs due to their large footprints and expensive locations, thus most were gradually closed upon
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