RETAIL TRADE – AUSTRALIA

Rebel is Australia’s top sports store for customer satisfaction

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 23-Oct-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that Rebel Sports is Australia’s leading sports store with a market-leading customer satisfaction rating of 88.4% in August 2017, up 2.7% from a year ago. It is followed by Sports Power (86.8%) and Sportsco (75.8%). However, they have both achieved greater increases in their customer satisfaction ratings than Rebel over the past year. Roy Morgan Research CEO Michele Levine says Rebel Sports’ victory in August builds on consecutive wins in the annual Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards in 2015-16, and Rebel Sports will be aiming for a "threepeat" in the Sports Store category at the 2017 annual Awards.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, REBEL SPORT LIMITED, SPORTS POWER, SPORTSCO PTY LTD

Debenhams sets up shop in Australia

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 18-Oct-17

Pepkor will open the first Debenhams department store in Melbourne on 24 October, and Pepkor executive Graham Dean says the store format it has chosen has not been used by Debenhams before, nor has it been seen in Australia. Dean, who used to work for Myer, says the traditional "big-store" format that department stores are known for are no longer viable. Pepkor intends to open 10 Debenhams stores in Australia under a franchise agreement with the UK retailer.

CORPORATES
PEPKOR, DEBENHAMS RETAIL PLC, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, HARRIS SCARFE HOLDINGS LIMITED, DAVID JONES LIMITED, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Kaufland bid a shock to industry veteran

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Original article by Simon Evans
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 10-Oct-17

Businessman Roger Drake says Australia’s supermarket sector is the most competitive it has been in four decades. Competition is set to intensify with confirmation that Kaufland will enter the local market. It recently paid $A25m for a 3.6-hectare site in Adelaide, and Drake says he had expected the German group’s first store to be in Sydney or Melbourne. Drake notes that independent greengrocers appear to have been hit harder by Aldi’s entry to the South Australian market than the Foodland stores that he owns in the state.

CORPORATES
KAUFLAND STIFTUNG & CO KG, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, FOODLAND AUSTRALIA LIMITED, DRAKE FOODMARKETS, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES, CBRE PTY LTD

Myer leads David Jones for satisfaction

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Oct-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that department store group Myer had a customer satisfaction rating of 88.6% in August 2017, ahead of David Jones on 85.1%. Myer has improved its customer satisfaction rating by 2.4% points over the last year, while David Jones showed a decline of 1.5% points. A year ago, David Jones had a satisfaction rating of 86.6%, marginally ahead of Myer (86.2%). The survey also shows that David Jones has its highest customer satisfaction rating among "Pre-Boomers" (those aged 71+) with 89.7%, compared with 87.6% for Myer. Meanwhile, Myer has its highest satisfaction rating (91.0%) among "Generation X" (aged 42 to 56), compared with 86.5% for David Jones.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, DAVID JONES LIMITED

Daigou retailer sells well on ASX debut

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Original article by Jessica Sier
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 25 : 6-Oct-17

So-called "daigou" retailer AuMake performed strongly on its sharemarket debut on 5 October. AuMake, which raised $A6 million from the issue of shares at $A0.08 each, traded as high as $A0.235. Founders Joshua Zhou and Lynn Zheng own 17 per cent of AuMake, while CVC is its biggest institutional investor. AuMake currently has six stores in Sydney and generates over $A13 million a year in revenue.

CORPORATES
AUMAKE INTERNATIONAL LIMITED – ASX AU8, CVC LIMITED – ASX CVC, ITM CORPORATION LIMITED, AUGEND LIMITED, TITAN ENERGY SERVICES, WECHAT, BELLAMY’S AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX BAL, THE A2 MILK COMPANY LIMITED – ASX A2M

Pizza Hut must pay weekend penalties

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 2-Oct-17

The Fair Work Commission ruled on 29 September that the national workplace agreement between Pizza Hut and the Shop Distributive & Allied Employees Association be terminated. The termination was made at the request of the SDA, but both it and Pizza Hut were not aware of the decision when asked for comment. The decision means Pizza Hut workers revert to the relevant award. As a result, their normal hourly rates will be reduced, but they will now receive full weekend and evening penalty rates.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, PIZZA HUT AUSTRALIA, SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION, ALLEGRO FUNDS PTY LTD, DOMINO’S PIZZA ENTERPRISES LIMITED – ASX DMP, RETAIL AND FAST FOOD WORKERS UNION

Lew’s plans stir Myer investors

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 29-Sep-17

Anton Tagliaferro of Investors Mutual says Myer Holdings’ shareholders are keen to know Solomon Lew’s intentions with regard to the department store group. There is speculation that Lew could nominate himself or a director of Premier Investments for the Myer board at its upcoming annual meeting. Retail industry veteran Terry McCartney has been touted as a potential nominee. He was appointed to the Premier Investments board in April 2016, and he was the MD of Myer Grace Bros from 1996 to 2000.

CORPORATES
MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, PREMIER INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX PMV, MYER GRACE BROS, COLES MYER LIMITED, JUST GROUP LIMITED, JUST JEANS PTY LTD, SMIGGLE PTY LTD, PETER ALEXANDER SLEEPWEAR PTY LTD, PORTMANS PTY LTD, DOTTI, INVESTORS MUTUAL LIMITED, BHP BILLITON LIMITED – ASX BHP, AURIAS DIAMONDS, ZAO SUAL HOLDINGS, MCCARTNEY RETAIL SERVICES

Golden handshake as exiting Goyder pockets $12m

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Original article by Cliona O’Dowd
The Australian – Page: 28 : 21-Sep-17

The annual report of Perth-based conglomerate Wesfarmers shows that outgoing CEO Richard Goyder will receive total remuneration of $A12.1m in 2017, compared with just $A5.5m in 2016. However, Goyder’s short-term incentive bonus was slashed in 2016 due to the underperformance of Target and the Curragh coal mine. Wesfarmers chairman Michael Chaney has praised Goyder’s contribution during his 12-year tenure. He will be succeeded by Rob Scott in November.

CORPORATES
WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, TARGET AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, CURRAGH QUEENSLAND MINING LIMITED, OFFICEWORKS SUPERSTORES PTY LTD, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW

Minimum-wage sting in Coles penalties deal

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 19-Sep-17

A draft enterprise agreement between Coles and the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees’ ­Association is intended to guarantee that all employees will be paid more than the award rate for the retail industry. If the deal is approved, permanent ­employees who work at night and on weekends will receive award-level penalty rates, as well as the full $A22.10-per-week increase in the minimum wage. However, employees who work solely on weekdays and are now paid above-award rates will receive only 50 per cent of the minimum wage rise.

CORPORATES
COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT

Consumers put value before price: P&G

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 12-Sep-17

Procter & Gamble’s MD for Australia and New Zealand, Antoine Brun, claims that Australian consumers are not as interested in price promotions as some retailers in the $A90 billion food and grocery sector seem to think. He says retailers need to reduce their discounting "message", and instead focus more on product quality and innovation. Brun notes that extensive discounting discourages product innovation. Procter & Gamble’s brands include Oral B, Duracell and Gillette.

CORPORATES
PROCTER AND GAMBLE AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, PROCTER AND GAMBLE COMPANY, CHEMIST WAREHOUSE, PRICELINE PHARMACY, IRI