Universal Store continues shop rollout despite the rise of the online shoppers
Thriving Brisbane-based Universal Store has committed to a wave of new shops around Australia as well as a larger corporate headquarters at Eagle Farm.
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The online revolution is here to stay but Universal Store chief executive Alice Barbery believes bricks and mortar remains a vital part of the shopping experience.
The Brisbane-based casual youth fashion chain has committed to a wave of new shops around Australia as well as a larger corporate headquarters and distribution at Eagle Farm in the TradeCoast Central precinct, which will be fully operational in the third quarter of 2022.
Ms Barbery said online will continue to be a growing channel for the $300m ASX-listed company but with 78 stores around Australia and New Zealand they remain committed to bricks and mortar.
This year they will rolling out seven to eight Universal Store outlets as well as their new women’s fashion Perfect Stranger brand’s stand-alone stores which currently stand at three.
“I went to the World Retail Congress in Rome a few months ago and this idea of bricks and mortar dying is a fallacy,” Ms Barbery said.
“People still love to commune, they still like to hangout. It’s unfortunate that those 40 something and 50 something year old people who don’t like it are the ones judging the world by their own standards.
“Kids still like going to shopping centres, meeting their friends and shop. Often they also don’t have the time wait for a parcel to come and they like to be with their friends trying it on and knowing that it fits.
“Young people have definitely embraced online but it’s called omnichannel for a reason. They might research something online, go in the store and try it on, they might buy something. They move fluidly through those two channels quite nicely.”
Universal Store was founded in 1999 by Michael and Greg Josephson who opened their first shop at Carindale Shopping Centre in Brisbane focusing on the 16-year-old to 35-year-old fashion focused customer.
In 2018 the brothers sold out for a rumoured $100m after a management buyout backed by Brett Blundy’s BB Retail Capital, Trent Peterson’s Catalyst Direct Capital Management and Adrian MacKenzie’s Five V Capital.
The private equity giants sold down their stakes in November 2020 when Universal Store floated on the ASX when the Covid pandemic was at its height.
Named after “universal values” the stores stock exclusive products, selling private-label brands and emulates fast-fashion chains by delivering new stock into stores daily and using short-run buying cycles to encourage shoppers to buy quickly or risk missing out.
Like many other retails Universal Store has suffered a post Covid let-down with its year-to-date sales were down just 2.3 per cent on 2021. However, growth in second half sales and successful new store openings helping the bottom line.
Currently online makes up 17.7 per cent of total sales and the company will continue to scale its digital and e-commerce capacity and services, and double investment into digital marketing.
Ms Barbery, who took the helm in 2017 after seven years as chief operating officer, said the Covid-19 pandemic was a challenging time for the business and its 1000-plus staff.
“But we had zero redundancies during Covid. Not one person did we lose,” she said.
“There’s a great saying – it’s not the water that sinks the ship, it’s water getting into the ship that sinks the ship. It’s about navigating both opportunities when they come and the challenging times when they come, working together with people who you trust, who have talent and who don’t over react or panic. It’s about staying close to your customers and close to your team.
“We worked in the most creative ways possible. We kept persevering and figuring out what our customers wanted and pivoting on the stock mix to ensure we offered the right kind of stock for each location according to what they were going though.
“In Melbourne they were staying home and wanted fleece and in Western Australia Covid never arrived until recently so they were still partying and dancing.”
Universal Store has a 10-year lease on 7200sq m office/warehouse on William Farrior Place, Eagle Farm, after partnering with specialist supply chain and property consultancy TMX on procuring their new site and reviewing their supply chain operation.
The property is twice the size of the current base in Nundah and will open in the third quarter of 2022. The new HQ will incorporate several sustainable design features, including the use of carbon neutral concrete supplied by Holcim.
Ms Barbery said TradeCoast Central, which is adjacent to the Gateway Arterial, was “the perfect fit” for Universal Store with its location, amenities and connection to major arterial networks.
“We’ve had an exceptional period of growth, with strong demand in both our stores and online channels," she said.
“This new facility in Brisbane will strengthen both our supply chain operation and fulfilment capacity ultimately, allowing us to scale and fulfil our future growth and ambitions. “
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