James Thomson April 9, 2014 The Age Woolworths might already be a household name in Australia, but local shoppers are going to get used to another, quite different company of the same name after South Africa’s Woolworths Holdings lobbed a $2.15 billion takeover for David Jones. This is giant deal for Woolworths Holdings, which has a market capitalisation of $5.5 billion and annual revenues of $4 billion, compared with DJs revenue of $1.8 billion. But South African retail giant does not want for local knowledge and could have an ace in its pack in the form of chief executive Ian Moir. Mr Moir is best known in the Australian market as the chief executive of Country Road, the upmarket clothing and homewares group in which Woolworths Holdings owns an 88 per cent stake. Mr Moir was appointed the board of Country Road in October 1998, serving as chief operating officer…

Michael Pascoe April 9, 2014 The Age You’ve been told it was the internet, that it was the economy, it was high wages, the government, the consumer, that it was the strong Australian dollar or maybe the weak Australian dollar. It was anything but second-rate management and dull boards that were responsible for Australian retail’s poor performance – yet it turns out it was poor management all along. As South Africa’s Woolworths joins the push of international shopkeepers into the Australian market with its David Jones takeover bid, it’s another indication of outsiders seeing value and opportunity that the locals had missed. Marked down Most obviously in fashion, a wave of luxury brands have set up shop and pushed DJs down to mid-market status. Zara and now H&M are raking the money in with fast fashion – in Zara’s case, at a better margin than it achieves internationally. And more…

PAULA BEAUCHAMP APRIL 09, 2014 HERALD SUN THERE was a time when head of Zoos Victoria Jenny Gray felt closest in the animal kingdom to the beaver. “I work hard and I like to shape and change things around me,” the South African-born executive says. Today, the three-time zoo CEO believes she’s aligned more closely with the meerkat. “I’m a more collaborative species these days,” she laughs. “I like working together with others to achieve a common purpose, so I’d say I’m most like them.” Ms Gray will this May share the lessons she has learned — including those from the various animals she has worked with — during her upward rise to the rank of chief executive. As one of five women featured in the Australian Institute of Management’s Outstanding Women Series, she hopes her journey will inspire other women in business. “When I worked at a bank nobody…

Jenny Buchan 09 April 2014 smartcompany The government is moving to introduce a new Franchising Code of Conduct as part of wide ranging reforms to how franchising arrangements are regulated, claiming it will be fairer for small operators and cut red tape. Whether that will happen is far from certain. The proposed changes will only apply to franchise agreements signed from the start of 2015. The biggest changes are the introduction of a specific duty of “good faith”, and the requirement for franchisors to give prospective franchisees an “information statement”. These changes are accompanied by legislation that will give the regulator, the ACCC, the ability to impose financial penalties on franchisors that breach the code, whereas it wasn’t able to before. But the changes would leave some of the fundamental problems affecting the relationship between franchisors and franchisees – namely knowledge and power imbalances – unfixed. A question of imbalance…

Max Mason April 10, 2014 The Age Once nothing but a second thought on the world fashion stage, big international players are now looking to tap into Australia’s lucrative, but under-served, retail market. The $2.15 billion takeover offer for David Jones from South Africa-based Woolworths further highlights the growing interest in Australian consumers from international retailers. Wednesday’s bid comes on the heels of Swedish fashion house H&M opening its first Australian stores and three years since Spanish powerhouse Zara came into the country. A major part of the success of northern hemisphere brands has been on selling their own clothing labels and a fast supply chain that can bring fashion from the catwalk to the store in a matter of weeks. At the same time, local consumers have shown little loyalty to brands considered Australian icons. David Jones and Myer have both suffered from their inability to adapt to the…

Angela Hanson March 26, 2014 Convenience Store News JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Ice cream is thought of as the classic frozen treat, but with the popularity of frozen yogurt reaching an all-time high within the United States, convenience store retailers should consider adding it to their offering, according to a Convenience Store News webcast held today. The web event, “Cool Profits: The Experts Discuss Implementing a Frozen Yogurt Option in C-stores,” was sponsored by Donper America. Looking at the TCBY brand of yogurt as a case study, Donper Vice President of Sales Denny Romer said frozen yogurt saw immense growth from 1981 onward and peaked in the mid-1990s. In 2010, TCBY rebranded itself and responded to shifting trends by going to 50 percent self-serve units, leading to solid company growth and contributing to frozen yogurt’s dramatic nationwide resurgence over the past five years. “It’s evident that this treat is something…