Birtles and the Bean: Harvey Norman leads Aussie retail charge in Asia

SPONSORED CONTENT: The Birtles and the Bean duo have seen lots of new sights on their epic trip — but shopping in Malaysia made them feel right at home.

SPONSORED CONTENT: Australian businesses are cashing in on a growing Malaysian middle class who spend their spare time in shopping malls buying Aussie brands.

And one of the biggest winners is Harvey Norman, the sponsor of The Daily Telegraph’s team Bean, who have opened six new stores there in the last year.

Australian High Commissioner to Malaysia Danielle Heinecke said Australia’s two-way trade with Malaysia was worth $34 billion a year, with retail being an important driver.

“Australian brands are really popular here,” she said. “Brands like Harvey Norman have 34 stores and they plan to go to 80.

“Boost Juice has more than 100 stores here, more than they do in Australia.

“If you go to any shopping centre here you will see how much they love our brands, like Lovisa, Aesop, Cotton On and Typo.”

Matthew Benns (left) and Warren Brown’s trip has been sponsored by Harvey Norman.

Jonathan Toh, chief operating officer of Harvey Norman Malaysia, said the six new stores and a target of 80 were being driven by a young population and rising middle class.

“The middle class is a growing group with a higher disposable income,” he said. “Since we started here in 2002 we have done a lot of marketing and brand awareness so a lot of Malaysians know Harvey Norman is Australian and they love our brands.”

Harvey Norman owners Katie Page and Gerry Harvey. Picture: Luke Marsden

At the company’s annual general meeting, chief executive Katie Page said the 120 company-owned stores in eight countries were filling a demand from growing affluent populations.

“Across our eight countries, Harvey Norman’s omni-channel model – integrating both physical stores and online services – remains a proven blueprint for sustainable retail growth, adapting to meet customer needs in a dynamic retail landscape,” she said.

“Each flagship store reflects our dedication to making a lasting impact. Powered by expert teams and driven by an understanding of the customer in each of the eight countries, Harvey Norman will continue to scale for real growth.”

The company has just opened its first store in England in Dudley just a few minutes drive from where The Daily Telegraph’s Bean motor car was made almost 100 years ago.

As part of the recreation of Francis Birtles epic 1927 drive from London to Melbourne the Bean team has called in to flagship Harvey Norman stores along the way in the UK, Slovenia, Croatia and most recently Malaysia and Singapore.

The Daily Telegraph cartoonist and Bean co-driver Warren Brown said the sponsorship from Harvey Norman made sense in the context of it being a global brand.

“Harvey Norman is one of the sponsors for our trip but I don’t think I understood that it is actually a global brand until we started driving up to their stores across the world,” Brown said.

“We attended the ninth anniversary celebrations of the flagship store in Millennia Walk in Singapore and there was clearly a lot of brand recognition from the people flocking to join in.

“It’s a big success story that grew out of Western Sydney yet people back home in Australia just do not know about it.”

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