Freedom: An Australian retail icon celebrates 40 years

From beanbags to designer sofas, the story of Freedom has reflected Australia’s own coming of age in furniture and homewares design.

This year, the iconic Australian brand is celebrating its 40th anniversary.

In many ways, it is back to the future for a business that started with one store selling outdoor and pine furniture and other staples of the colourful early 1980s.

Freedom was an Australian retail pioneer bringing design in-house well before other Australian furniture retailers.

And now, in 2021, Freedom has come full circle, once again designing and curating in-house to create beautiful products for our unique Australian lifestyle.

Freedom was first launched in Sydney in 1981 and sales boomed within a year.

In 1984, Freedom opened its first Melbourne store. This was followed quickly by a new logo, a new look, sophisticated and stylish photoshoots and catalogues and a swag of awards for its marketing and advertising, including winning Best TVC for the ‘Banana Chair’ commercials.

Freedom’s progressive approach saw it develop its own in-house design capability in 1987 as well as forming a visual merchandising department. This was arguably one of the first of its kind in a sector that was still very much beholden to the styles and fashion cues from Europe and America.

By now, visual merchandising had become integral to Freedom’s philosophy.

The ‘casual living’ theme was born, with a distinct emphasis on the unique Australian lifestyle, and Freedom became the nation’s leading furniture retailer bringing world class style at an affordable price.

The late 90’s were a time of expansion for Freedom. The company went public in 1996 and launched Freedom Kitchens. The following year Freedom launched its first Homewares store.

In 1998, store openings in Tasmania and Northern Territory brought a Freedom store to every state.

In 1999, internationally recognised designer Ken Cato designed Freedom’s new logo and freedom.com.au went live bringing the iconic furniture retailer into the digital age.

In the early 2000’s, Freedom achieved a record of $400 million sales and hit 80 stores.

2003 saw Freedom begin its highly successful partnership with TV juggernaut The Block, which continues to this day.

The following year, in 2004, Freedom went private.

In 2006, Freedom launched their new branding and continued to lead the industry in the embrace of digital and social media as core to the brand strategy with the brand launching on Facebook and Instagram in 2011.

In 2020, Freedom announced its highly regarded rebrand, including the current crisp new logo. 2020 also saw a renewed focus on design with a new, dedicated design and creative team to spearhead the transformation.

A lot has happened in 40 years for this remarkable Australian retail success story.

Freedom has led the shift from the Australian consumer’s obsession with European and American influences to the distinctive and proudly Australian style.

From bean bags to world class design, Freedom is 40 years young and has in many ways returned to where it began – designing and curating beautiful products inspired by our relaxed and contemporary Australian lifestyle.