Hall of Fame Recipients 2010

2010 Retail Hall of Fame Recipients

Hugh Perrett

Hugh Perrett was born and raised in Wellington. Following 13 years with Unilever where he was National Sales Controller throughout his last 5 years, Hugh joined Foodstuffs (Auckland) Ltd in October 1977 as General Manager and was subsequently appointed Managing Director in 1979. In 1985 he was also appointed Managing Director of Foodstuffs (NZ) Ltd. He retired from both these roles in 2001.

During Hugh’s time at Foodstuffs (Auckland) Ltd, he was instrumental in seeing Foodstuffs’ retailing operations structured to cover the major retail segments in the grocery market.

Hugh’s input into the development of the Pak’ N Save group to its present market leader position in the New Zealand supermarket industry is well recognised. Hugh’s determination that the integrity of the format of the Pak’N Save operation be upheld has been instrumental in the success of the group and he has of course left a legacy that will ensure that format remains protected.

In 2001 Michael O’Connor, a consultant to the Washington (US) based Food Marketing Institute, during a sponsored visit to this country, congratulated Foodstuffs on the PAK’n SAVE format saying that unequivocally it was the best format of its type in the world that he was aware of.           

Foodstuffs is the market leader in the supermarket industry with an unparalleled history of success both financially and in terms of innovation and design. Hugh’s achievements during his time at Foodstuffs have been enormous and he will be remembered for the whole retail philosophy that he brought to Foodstuffs.

Robert Hannah

Robert Hannah (originally Hanna) is a well known New Zealand shoe manufacturer and retailer. He was born on the family farm in Ballymoney, Northern Ireland, on 10 September 1845. 

He served his apprenticeship in Kilrea as a boot maker, and at the age of 18, immigrated to Queensland, Australia.  In 1866, he arrived in Hokitika on the West Coast (in that era, one of the largest towns in New Zealand) attracted by the gold rush and the business opportunities that went with it.  He settled in Charleston, and in 1868, opened his first boot shop.  A record in his diary states that he slept in his own shop. 

Two years later, he founded the firm of R Hannah and Co.  “A policy of honest trading ensured his success from the very outset” (Dominion Post 4 November, 1948), and in 1874 his business had outgrown the West Coast and was transferred to Wellington where he opened the first Robert Hannah & Co shoe store on Lambton Quay. 

Robert Hannah’s policy was to give the public a uniformly high quality product at the lowest possible price, and by 1897 Robert Hannah & Co had opened 10 stores in the North Island, with new branches continually opening as the population of towns and cities all over New Zealand grew.  Between 1868 and 1930, Robert Hannah built up New Zealand’s largest footwear retailing and manufacturing organisation. Today, although the company no longer manufactures footwear, it remains the largest specialty footwear retailer in New Zealand. 

Dominion Post 4 November 1948.  “Age can mean many things – it can mean decay. It can cause a business enterprise to whither and fade once it becomes complacent and ceases to produce more and better goods at the lowest possible prices.

Age can also mean stability, tradition, character, experience bringing as its reward the continuing confidence of vast numbers of customers.  It is on this time-tested foundation that Hannah’s have developed an unchallenged leadership in the growing shoe industry.”