The first store was opened in
South Yarra,
Melbourne by founders Ron Hall and John Shuster in 1981. This shop sold
seconds and discontinued lines, hence The Reject Shop name. In 1994, the chain became majority owned by
Macquarie Bank. It was floated on the
Australian Securities Exchange in June 2004. The float was successful, with the company tripling in size two years after going public. Former Chief Executive Barry Saunders, recruited to the company in 2000 by Macquarie Bank, retired in 2007. He was replaced in May 2007 by Gerry Masters, a former
Coles Group executive, after 33 years with his former employer. On 11 September 2009, it was announced that Gerry Masters had resigned his position as managing director and would be replaced by Chris Bryce, the chief financial officer, effective 14 September 2009. Despite the strong growth experienced by the company in the years following 2004, a
profit warning in December 2010 resulted in a sharp drop in the share price. The company was also affected by the
Queensland Floods of 2010, with the company's
Ipswich Distribution Centre being flooded. The warehouse became operational once again on 28 August 2011. A similar profit warning in June 2014 resulted in another share drop of 50%, making them one of the top worst performing shares in 2014. In 2013, the company commenced an aggressive growth plan, following the closure of a number of Retail Adventures stores. The company passed the 300 store milestone in October 2013. On 8 July 2014, The Reject Shop announced the appointment of Ross Sudano (formerly of
Little World Beverages) as chief executive officer. His appointment followed the departure of Chris Bryce in June 2014, after leading a significant growth phase of the business. In January 2020, the company announced Andre Reich as chief executive officer. In September 2020, The Reject Shop announced a partnership with British supermarket chain
Tesco. In October they launched a lowest price guarantee In November 2020, The Reject Shop launched a partnership with
DoorDash.
Dollarama acquisition In March 2025, the board accepted a $259 million
takeover offer from
Dollarama, a Canadian discount retailer. The investor presentation said it will deliver a “dollarama shopping experience” with a new store layout, design and merchandising experience. The acquisition was completed in July 2025 and the company was removed from the ASX. It was confirmed in August 2025 that The Reject Shop stores would be rebadged as
Dollarama. At least one media commentator expressed concerns about the acquisition and planned rebranding describing it as an “eerily similar path” to that of Retail Adventures’ ill-fated acquisition of
Australian Discount Retail – the parent company of
Crazy Clark's,
Go-Lo and
Sam's Warehouse. In January 2026, the company's entity name changed from The Reject Shop Limited to Dollarama Australia Pty Ltd. In March 2026, Dollarama president and chief executive Neil Rossy told investors that he confident that with an expanded footprint, rebranded Dollarama Australia stores can dominate Australia’s multi-billion dollar discount and general merchandise space, stating that: “while this is a four-year project, once you’ve established a low-cost retail platform in Australia, with by that point, over 500-600 stores, we feel very confident that being the
800-pound gorilla in the market will play very well for our shareholders.” By March 2025, a “handful” of renovated Reject Shop stores had adopted Dollarama’s in-store layout and fixtures. However, they will continue to operate under the legacy Reject Shop banner until the assortment of new Dollarama stock increases. As of March 2026, Dollarama had not yet decided it would replicate the “nothing over $5” pledge it currently has in its Canadian stores. ==See also==