Dixons Retail plc was one of the largest consumer electronics retailers in Europe. In the United Kingdom, the company operated Currys, Currys Digital, PC World (with stores increasingly dual branded 'Currys PC World'), Dixons Travel and its service brand Knowhow. Dixons Retail's Nordic and central European business was operated under the Elkjøp umbrella, and it also operated Kotsovolos in Greece. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index until its merger with Carphone Warehouse on 7 August 2014 to create Dixons Carphone. At the time of its merger in 2014, Dixons Retail had 530 outlets in the United Kingdom and Ireland and 322 in Northern Europe. The company, formerly known as Dixons Group plc and later DSG International plc, specialised in selling mass market technology consumer electronics products, audio video equipment, PCs, small and large domestic appliances, photographic equipment, communication products and related financial and after sales services (e.g. extended service agreements, set up and installation and repairs). It also sold other products and services, electrical products, spares, mobile services and extended warranties. History Early years Dixons was founded as a photographic studio by Charles Kalms and Michael Mindel in the High Street in Southend under the name of Dixons Studios Limited, a company registered in October 1937 with share capital of £100. The name Dixons, selected randomly from the telephone directory, was sufficiently short to fit above the small shop front. In the early 1940s, Dixons set up seven studios around London but by the end of the Second World War the business had been reduced to a single studio in Edgware. Stanley Kalms, the son of the founder, joined the business in 1948 and started advertising direct sales in the press, with postal ordering and delivery. In 1950, the company began to sell cameras, and in 1957, opened a new head office to: continue leadership, management, and strategy such as via board meetings accommodate the staff now dealing with 60,000 mail order customers centralise buying provide administration for its six stores, with more planned. Dixons was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1962, changing its name at that time to Dixons Photographic Limited. It bought out competitors Ascotts in 1962, and Bennetts in 1964. In 1967, Dixons bought an colour film processing laboratory in Stevenage. Charles Kalms was succeeded by his son Stanley in 1971. In