Industry News

May 6, 2013 The Age Retail sales fell as job advertisements slid for the second consecutive month and inflation remained subdued, according to economic data released this morning. Ahead of the RBA’s board meeting tomorrow, retail sales fell 0.4 per cent in March seasonally adjusted, below economists’ expectations of a 0.1 per cent rise. Sales of clothing, footwear and personal accessories dropped by 4.2 per cent, while household goods slipped by 1.5 per cent. Other retailing, which includes pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, fell 1 per cent as department stores saw their sales ease by 0.1 per cent. But food sales rose 0.8 per cent as more people ate out, with cafes, restaurants and takeaway food outlets enjoying a 0.2 per cent lift. Retail turnover rose 3.2 per cent for March compared to the previous corresponding month, the Bureau of Statistics data showed. ANZ’s monthly job advertising survey found ads declined 1.3…

Nina Hendy May 2, 2013 The Age If big business can’t deal with the big guys, imagine how tough it is for small suppliers. Getting your product stocked by Coles or Woolworths is the goal of many small businesses. But it isn’t always without drawbacks. Sean Garlick’s gourmet pie empire has grown substantially since he forged a relationship with Coles three years ago. The small business operator had 11 pie outlets in NSW, but when he was invited to stock his range of pies with Coles, he felt it was an opportunity too good to pass up. Since then, he’s done it all he can to nurture the business relationship with the supermarket giant: he’s more than happy to hand out samples, stock shelves and conduct in-store demonstrations. “We’re a family business and we’ve called on just about everyone in the family to be involved in store demonstrations, pie give-aways…

Michael Baker May 3, 2013 The Age Iconic US brand opens Aussie flagship Retail is a hard business and it is difficult to get a few things, even one thing, exactly right. So when a retailer nails everything at once it’s a brilliant achievement. American home furnishings retailer Williams-Sonoma has done exactly that in its store that opened Thursday morning on a pedestrian mall in Bondi Junction in Sydney. The store, which is the company’s first outside of North America save a lone franchised unit in Kuwait, houses Williams-Sonoma’s four flagship brands side by side under one roof. The four brands are all strongly differentiated. West Elm is a contemporary home furnishings brand for the design-conscious but budget-constrained aspirational shopper. Pottery Barn and Pottery Barn Kids are for the more established households with a bit more money in the bank. Williams-Sonoma is an upscale cookware concept. For small retailers and…

Jason Beattie 2 May 2013 mirror.co.uk He is reported to have decided that the move is “not one of his core priorities” and has pulled it from next week’s Queen Speech. David Cameron was accused of caving in to big business today after the Government scrapped plans to bring in plain cigarette packs. The Prime Minister is reported to have decided that the move is “not one of his core priorities” and has pulled the legislation from next week’s Queen Speech. Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham said the decision was “disgraceful” and claimed Mr Cameron had bowed to lobbying by the tobacco industry. He said:“This Government has completely lost its way on public health. “David Cameron promised to get tough on smoking and alcohol abuse, but instead has caved in to big business and vested interests. “It is disgraceful for a government source to suggest that public health and tackling…

MICHAEL BENNET May 03, 2013 The Australian WESFARMERS has re-run the numbers on its Bunnings rollout amid concerns about the costs of new home-improvement stores, while revealing that it is becoming more comfortable about making acquisitions. Chief financial officer Terry Bowen said yesterday the group remained confident that all of the 90 stores in its pipeline would deliver “good returns”, pointing out that the saturation point was constantly changing. Broker Bank of America Merrill Lynch last week cut its earnings forecasts for rival Woolworths over concerns its new Masters hardware joint venture would lose more than $800 million over the next four years, partly due to high costs per store. Mr Bowen said that while its Bunnings network was larger than would have been expected 10 years ago when big-box stores were typically 7000sq m, Wesfarmers was today opening stores as large as 17,000sq m because of innovation in the…

Adele Ferguson May 3, 2013 The Age Monday will be crunch time in the politically charged negotiations between the supermarket giants and the Australian Food and Grocery Council to agree to a supermarket code of conduct that is voluntary rather than mandatory. After months of discussions, Woolworths is scheduled to hold its final meeting with the AFGC on Monday to once and for all try to reach an agreement on a code designed to improve relationships between supermarkets and suppliers by curbing the power of the supermarket giants. An agreement was expected by Easter and with less than five weeks of sitting left in Parliament, the speculation is that an agreement must be reached in the next two or three weeks – or a mandatory code could be imposed on them. If neither is done, the fate of the retail giants will be left to the government elected in September.…