Adairs set to kickstart progressive store reopenings as retail reboot gains momentum in Qld

Homewares retail chain Adairs is set to begin reopening its bricks-and-mortar outlets but a new ABS survey indicates businesses are still bracing for reduced cash flow to have an adverse impact.

The retail reboot is in full swing in Queensland.

THE reboot of Queensland’s bricks-and-mortar retail sector is in full swing with major homewares chain Adairs kickstarting the reopening of its stores later this week.

Adairs plans to progressively reopen its 30-plus Queensland stores — “with additional measures to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our team and customers” — from May 7.

It intends to start the reboot of its bricks-and-mortar operations with its larger format Homemaker outlets and all stores are expected to be open again by the end of June.

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The ASX-listed retailer’s reopening strategy is outlined in its latest trading update — including details of “new in-store safety protocols and processes” — and comes with the release of new survey results on business impacts of the coronavirus crisis by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

“Our staged store openings reflect our ‘safety first’ approach as we welcome back our team and customers into our stores,” said Adairs CEO and managing director Mark Ronan. “There is still a long way to go, however the actions and contributions made to date put us in a strong potion to navigate this changing environment.”

The company’s update also reveals a massive 221 per cent surge in online sales since its stores closed last month.

Overall, however, the retailer says its total Australian sales are down about 37 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Homewares retailer Adairs to reopen stores.

According the latest ABS survey on Business Impacts of COVID-19, almost three quarters of Australian businesses (72 per cent) reported that reduced cash flow was expected to have an adverse impact on business over the next two months.

ABS Head of Industry Statistics John Shepherd said reduced demand for goods and services was expected to impact about seven in 10 businesses (69 per cent) over the next two months, while two in five businesses (41 per cent) expect a reduced ability to pay operating expenses.

The survey also found that three in five (61 per cent) businesses had registered or intended to register for the JobKeeper Payment scheme.

“Of those businesses registered or intending to register, 73 per cent expected more than half of their employees to the eligible for the scheme,” Mr Shepherd said.

“The survey also found that of the businesses that did not intend to register for the JobKeeper Payment scheme, 55 per cent reported that it was because the business was not eligible. Less than one in 10 (7 per cent) reported not registering due to insufficient cash flow to continue paying staff before JobKeeper payments commence.”

Adairs says it has registered for the JobKeeper program and expects to qualify for the wage subsidies.

The latest figures from ANZ show job advertisements suffered their largest ever fall in April as strict social distancing rules and business closures to combat the coronavirus all but crushed demand for labour.

ANZ said total job ads plunged 53.1 per cent in April, compared to a 10 per cent drop in March.

The fall is almost five times larger than the previous record of 11.3 per cent in January 2009.

Job ads averaged just 63,806 in April, down from 136,106 in March and 62.2 per cent lower from a year ago.

Economists fear unemployment could spike toward 10 per cent in coming months as large chunks of the economy were shut to fight the virus.