Mitre 10 (New Zealand)  Mitre 10 is a major New Zealand chain of home improvement stores established in June 1974. It employs more than 6000 team members combined and functions as a co-operative, with over 80 stores run by 60 local owner-operators. It is an entirely separate company from the Australian Mitre 10 chain. Marketing and advertising have been memorable and many New Zealanders can still sing slogans from 10 and 20 years past - from "Mitre 10, Mitre 10, We’re New Zealand’s biggest hardware men" in the 70s through the "Good on Ya Mitre 10 You’ve done it again" campaigns in the 80s, to "You’ll come out better off at Mitre 10" and the Mega Strongman’s "Big is Good" until recently. The brand is involved in many community projects, such as the Mitre 10 Takahe Rescue project, the New Zealander of the Year – Community of the year Award and the Neurological Foundation’s Annual Appeal, as well as individual projects supported by stores to help their local communities - and has done very well in the Readers Digest Trusted Brand survey. The Mitre 10 brand and concept was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1959 as a local co-operative, with the initial 8 independent operators pooling their resources for shared advertising and promotions. Separate state-based companies were formed in the years following, and then an overall licensing company in 1964. The concept appealed to New Zealand hardware shop owners, and on 28 June 1974 the New Zealand Herald reported "some of the smaller firms in the timber and hardware merchandising field are grouping together to present a unified buying and selling front." The first member’s meeting in 1974 consisted of just twelve members representing fifteen stores. Mitre 10 New Zealand Limited now has 117 members, with stores stretching from Kaitaia to Bluff and has both the largest network by store numbers and by retail floor-space nationwide. The late 1980s saw the introduction of Home Centres, further refined with nationwide garden centres. In 1994 the "Mitre 10 Home and Trade" brand was established. A major move at the smaller end of the market was the addition of Hammer Hardware in 1994 - extending a presence to the majority of towns in New Zealand. At the large end of the scale, in 2003 Mitre 10 MEGA was added. In 2010 Mitre 10 (New Zealand) Limited took full ownership of the Mitre 10 brands for New Zealand after changes to the ownership of the, quite separate, Mitre 10 operation in Australia.