Wayne Harrison – VIC State Manager & Ritchies Director

When did you join Ritchies? I started in 2004 and worked for 7 years during high school and university before leaving for 10 years. I then returned in 2021, making it a total of 10 years.

Why did you join Ritchies? In the first iteration, it was a means to make spending monies over the weekends. In the second iteration, it was to return to work with family and friends, and to do something I had previously loved to do. I had long lost interest in my previous career, so was hoping to come back and enjoy working…and I am glad to say I do enjoy it!

What do you do at Ritchies? As director, it is signing off on corporate decisions and the strategic pathway for the company, as well as managing our corporate risks. As VIC State Manager, it is overseeing the VIC business unit, and the 54 stores and 4,000 team members. It is very difficult to describe the operations role, given every day is different.

Tell us about your career path. I studied law and accounting, and after university I went into law. I worked for 10 years as a Major Projects lawyer , working on a combination of infrastructure and oil and gas projects. The highlights were working as the Legal Director of the West Gate Tunnel Project, and then as a lawyer at an international firm in London. Both very different, but unique experiences. However, it soon became apparent that I did not want to continue as a lawyer. I was very fortunate that Ritchies saw a role and career path for myself, and I was able to return.

What do you enjoy most about working for Ritchies? The people. Most of the senior team have been at Ritchies for 20years+, and make coming to work very enjoyable. It does feel like a big family. The other enjoyable part is the variety – one day you could be in Mildura doing store visits, other days at

How do you achieve success in your role? Hard-work. As much as I would like to say there’s a magic key that unlocks success, for me it has always been about putting in as many hours as I can each day. My wife would also say one of the reasons is my obsession with efficiency, which I do tend to agree with.

What is a favourite quote? The energy of the mind, is the essence of life – Aristotle.

What is your favourite wine, or spirit? Anything by Penfolds is hard to go past.

What sport are you most passionate about? AFL/Collingwood definitely occupy too much of my time. I am also a massive Yankees fan. Between those two teams, there’s not a lot of spare time!

What is your favourite think to buy in a Supermarket? For some reason, I always seem to exit with a bottle of Mount Franklin water.

Where is your favourite destination in the world, or dream to visit? Rome, 18 visits and counting now. Dream destination is the Bahamas.

Do you have a pet? A Boston terrier - Otis - who also takes up too much of my time.

What’s your favourite costume you have warn to a dress up party? I had a 21st Alexander the Great themed birthday party where I dressed as a Greek King. It seems a very odd decision in hindsight.

Tell us a surprising or a fun fact about you – I have read over 300 books on ancient history, and can recite a lot of random facts and timelines about the Roman Empire. Unfortunately, it rarely/never comes in use.

Would you rather – buy 10 things you don’t need every time you go shopping, or always forget the one thing that you need when you go to the store? To help our sales, I will say buy 10 things.