Do we like them?

Do we like Big W?

Discount department store chain selling clothes, toys, homewares and electronics, based in Bella Vista, NSW, Australia.

Our score: 5 out of 10. Mixed. It's a cheap, familiar family shop, and its cotton and supply-chain work is a plus. But it has a past product-safety penalty, a live pay case and some marketplace controversy.

Big W is the discount department store arm of Woolworths Group. It opened in 1964 and is based in Bella Vista. It sells clothes, toys, homewares, electronics and baby gear, in stores and online, aimed at budget-minded families. It sits alongside Woolies as one of the big names in Australian retail.

Dan Hake has run Big W since November 2022. He came up through Woolworths' merchandising and digital teams and worked at Boston Consulting Group before that. Above him is Woolworths Group CEO Amanda Bardwell, who said the group would move Big W onto its own standalone tech platform.

On the plus side, Woolworths says Big W is the first Australian retailer to be Better Cotton certified, and sourced over 12.5 million garments using traceable Better Cotton last financial year. That is the company's own claim. The group also says it has a responsible-sourcing program and an exit policy for factories.

On the downside, a Federal Court penalty of $3.057m hit Woolworths over house-brand safety issues, covering products sold in Big W too. Separately, Yahoo News Australia reported wildlife rescuers criticising items on Big W's online marketplace, including kangaroo skins. A class action naming Woolworths and Big W over salaried staff pay is still working through the courts.

The score is 5. It's a mainstream, reasonably transparent retailer with some real supply-chain work. But the safety penalty history, the unresolved pay litigation and a middling fashion transparency score keep it from being one we'd enthusiastically back.