It’s the $8 billion giant growing inside Kmart. And it has turned the Wesfarmers-owned retailer from a discount department store to a business whose brands can be found in chains around the world.

It is the success of Kmart’s Anko that loomed large over Wesfarmers’ last financial update, when the company revealed the brand now accounted for 85 per cent of sales at the department store – more than $4 billion in six months. Its growth is something that investors have a keen eye on ahead of the ASX-listed conglomerate’s next update, due on August 29.