Gerry Harvey
Gerry Harvey
Gerry Harveyis an Australian entrepreneur best known for being the executive chairman of Harvey Norman Holdings, a company which runs Australian retail chain Harvey Norman. He co-founded it with Ian Norman in 1982...
NationalityAustralian
ProfessionBusinessman
Date of Birth18 September 1939
CountryAustralia
closer people relationship
I get a lot of comments from people that I'm just an ordinary bloke. They immediately feel they have a closer relationship with you; they relate to you.
ambition people stuff
Businesses are made by people. We've proven time and time again that you can have wonderful shop, and put a bloke in there who's no good, and he'll stuff it up. Put a good bloke in, and it just turns around like that .
business confused buying-things
Basically we get confused a bit about what retail is. It is really just buying things, putting them on a floor and selling them.
couple years here-i-am
I went to university for a couple of years and I didn't enjoy university. The studying and the accountancy, economics, I just hated that stuff. Now the irony is here I am lawyer, accountant, I do it all day every day and sit at a desk. So I've never ended up where I wanted to be in many ways. I always wanted to be a farmer.
successful people the-end-of-the-day
When people talk about successful retailers and those that are not so successful, the customer determines at the end of the day who is successful and for what reason.
expanding meant minute supposed
We're supposed to be an entrepreneurial company; we're meant to be expanding and looking for opportunities - but the minute you do it, you get your head bashed in.
frozen groups hands huge matter media minority social strong system time
The political system is broke. It doesn't matter who the leader is if you are frozen in time and your hands are tied. Social media is so strong that minority groups get a huge say.
interest lose people
The people I know who have retired, so many of them lose interest and die; they just become nobodies overnight.
deal develop great helping mentoring people spent time trying
I try to develop others. I get a great deal of joy out of helping people who, over the years, I've spent a lot of time mentoring - and just trying to get them to another level.
conversation health might mind
All I can say to you, if you look after your health, eat the right stuff, do enough exercise, keep your mind active, you might be around when you're 100 having this conversation with someone.
generally
For me, anyone who is over 80, I generally sit down and have a chat to because he is over 80, and he is going OK.
carried
I am a commonsense sort of a person, and I don't get carried away with emotion and fears.
amazed business cent per
I'll be amazed in my lifetime if my business gets to being 5 per cent online.
dollars given millions
I've given away tens of millions of dollars over the years - probably to almost every charity in Australia.