Ian Norman (businessman)

This article is about the Australian businessman. For the English professor, see Ian Norman.

Ian John Norman (c. 1939 – May 29, 2014) was an Australian businessman and retail executive. In 1982, Norman and Gerry Harvey co-founded Harvey Norman, an Australian retail chain which bears their names.[1][2] Ian Norman remained a non-executive director of the company until his death in 2014.[1]

Early life and business

Norman and Harvey first met when both were working as traveling, door-to-door vacuum cleaner salesmen.[1] The duo partnered to open their first store, which specialized in home appliances and electronics, in 1961, in Sydney.[1][2] Their store, which was called Norman Ross, expanded to forty-two stores by 1979, with annual sales of AUS $240 million that year.[1] Harvey and Norman sold the Norman Ross chain to Alan Bond in 1982.[1][2]

The business partners then founded Harvey Norman, named for its founders, in 1982.[1][2] The new chain offered consumer electronics, furniture and other household goods.[2] The first store known as "Harvey Norman" opened at a shopping center in Auburn, New South Wales, in 1982, the same year as the sale.[1]

Later life and death

By 2014, Ian Norman, who remained an executive, held 175 million shares of Harvey Norman, a 16.5% stake worth an estimated $560 million.[1][2] Norman died from throat cancer at his home on the New South Wales Central Coast on May 29, 2014, at the age of 75.[2][3] In later years he remained out of the public eye, was an intensely private man, but a generous philanthropist.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Greenblat, Eli (2014-05-29). "Harvey Norman co-founder Ian Norman dies". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2014-06-27.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Carter, Bridget (2014-05-31). "Harvey Norman co-founder Ian Norman dies at 75". The Australian. Retrieved 2014-06-27.
  3. ↑ Avenell, Patrick (2014-05-30). "Vale Ian Norman, co-founder of Norman Ross and Harvey Norman". Appliance Retailer. Retrieved 2014-06-27.


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