Myer and David Jones recruiting international labels to drive sales
Myer has taken a gamble by recruiting a slew of coveted international brands to shake up its offerings and compete with rival David Jones. The new CEO is rethinking the business model and hopes new labels will lure more customers into their stores.
Myer has taken a gamble by recruiting a slew of coveted international brands to shake up its offerings and compete with rival David Jones.
In an attempt to turn around the embattled retailer’s fortunes, new CEO John King is rethinking Myer’s traditional business model and hoping the new international labels will lure customers and increase foot traffic.
Some of the fresh brands set to hit the shelves include Selected Femme, Selected Homme, Oasis, Warehouse, Karl Lagerfeld, Rotate and Twisted Tailor and this will be the first time many of these labels are available in bricks-and-mortar retail stores within Australia.
MORE FROM BRIANA DOMJEN
SAM, PHOEBE BURGESS BACK ON AFTER BRIEF SPLIT
KENNY’S CHEMISTRY WITH DWTS PARTNER ‘AN ACT’
NSW LABEL SCORES MAJOR DEAL WITH VICTORIA’S SECRET
It comes after David Jones also enlisted new brands including Ulla Johnson, Kenzo and Rixo London.
“In the Aussie market, there are really only two department store players … so to remain vital and keep customers interested you have got to bring in new things every single season,” Myer Chief Merchandise Officer, Allan Winstanley said.
“We have a big push to update our portfolio and really get the Australian consumers excited.
“As for the new brands we have Oasis and Warehouse which are two UK staples which are doing very well in Europe. We launched Karl Largerfeld Paris this month … and that’s doing incredible well for us. And from Scandanavia we have Rotate which is very hot right now.”
The announcement comes after Country Road, Politix and Mimco were pulled from Myer when Woolworths Holdings, the South African owner of the fashion labels opting to sell them exclusively through David Jones, which it also owns.
TopShop did the same thing resulting in Myer having a huge hole in its womenswear and menswear offerings — the most lucrative for a department store.
“This is certainly a mitigation plan because I think that situation (brand’s jumping shop) is more acute in the Australian market because you only have two department store players,” Mr Winstanley said.
“The quicker we can get ahead of ourselves, if we do have any brands fall out, then we have back up plans in place.
“I think Myer has not been as quick and dynamic as it should have been given the challenges the retail sector has. All I am doing is making sure the newness and excitement is accelerated and we are doing it a lot more quickly than we have before.”
The retailer has made no secret the department store model needs rethinking, with the GM of “omni-channel” at Myer, Robbie Tutt recently saying: “I think department stores are still relevant, but they’ve lost their way. The fact is, 60 per cent of our products can be bought somewhere else.“
And it seems the new and unique brands are an attempt to reinvent the 119-year-old brand.
The Australian Retail Associations Executive Director. Russell Zimmerman agrees.
“Every retailer needs to find their niche,” Zimmerman said.
“If you go back 20 years ago, you didn’t have a Hugo Boss shop, a Sportscraft shop, you would go to a department store for that. Now we have them.
“The brands I understand MYER are bringing in are wanted brands that people are buying overseas at the moment. So it is a point of difference to other retailers, not just department stores — other retailers.”
The best ETFs of the past five years
Exchange traded funds, which let investors buy into entire sectors or markets with just one transaction, are going from strength to strength. But some ETFs are stronger than others.
Tech and resources high among this week’s experts’ share tips
Aussie mining, energy and technology stocks are on the radar of our share market tipsters. See their recommendations.