Our History

Angus & Robertson has a history in Australia that dates back to 1886 when David Angus and George Robertson opened a bookshop in Sydney. Angus & Robertson listed as a public company in 1907 and grew through a number of acquisitions over the following sixty years before being acquired in 1970. Angus & Robertson was acquired by the then New Zealand listed Whitcoulls Group in 1993.

Whitcoulls has over a century of history in New Zealand that dates back to the establishment of Whitcombe and Tombs in 1888 and Coulls Somerville Wilkie in 1871. Whitcoulls was formed from the merger of these two entities in 1971.

Borders began in 1972, when Tom and Louis Borders opened a bookshop in the heart of Ann Arbor, an academic community in Michigan, USA. The first store was just 800 sq ft and sold only used books. In 1973, Borders decided to sell new books only; by 1974, the business was in its fourth location, a 10,000 sq ft store. As it grew, Borders became known as one of the world's finest bookshops - a place where customers could browse alone for hours, or rely on the friendly and well-informed staff to find exactly what they were looking for.

REDgroup Retail is owned by Pacific Equity Partners (PEP).  Since PEP acquired the A&R Whitcoulls Group from UK retailer WH Smith in May 2004 the company has executed a disciplined growth strategy, disposed of non core assets, including Australian and Hong Kong airport stores, acquired a controlling stake in the Supanews newsagency chain and acquired the Australian, New Zealand and Singapore operations of Borders Group International. In December 2008 the A&R Whitcoulls Group was re-branded as REDgroup Retail to better reflect the new dynamic retail business these acquisitions have created.