Kmart Australia

Kmart Australia Limited
Subsidiary
Industry Retail
Founded 1969 (1969)
Headquarters Mulgrave, Melbourne, VIC,
Australia
Number of locations

207+ Kmart Stores (2015)[1]

246 Kmart Tyre and Auto
Area served
Australia & New Zealand
Key people
  • Guy Russo (CEO of Target and Kmart)
    Ian Bailey (Managing Director)
Revenue
  • Increase A$4.6 billion (2015)
  • Increase A$366 million (2014)[2]
Total assets
  • Steady A$2.13 billion (2014)
Number of employees
31,000+
Parent Wesfarmers
Website Kmart.com.au

Kmart Australia Limited is an Australian chain of discount stores (low-price stores), owned by Wesfarmers. It operates 189 stores in Australia and 18 in New Zealand,[1] with its head office located in Mulgrave, Melbourne. Kmart Australia was part of the original Coles MYER group, which originated and was based in Melbourne.

History

The original Kmart Australia logo until 1991

Kmart Australia Limited was born out of a joint venture between G.J Coles & Coy Limited (Coles) and S.S. Kresge Company in the United States, with Kresge owning 51% of the common stock in the company. They began to develop Kmart stores in Australia in 1968.[3]

The first store opened in Burwood East, Victoria, in April 1969 and second store in Galleria Shopping Centre Morley, Western Australia with over 40,000 people passing through the checkouts on the first day.[4] The doors had been closed 45 minutes after opening as a safety measure.[5]

Logo from 1991-2006, This logo was exclusive to Kmart Stores in Australia and New Zealand. This style logo still sees ongoing use today, primarily with store signage.
A Kmart store within Eastland Shopping Centre, Ringwood, an eastern suburb of Melbourne.
A 24-hour Kmart store within New Town Plaza, New Town, an inner-suburb of Hobart.
Entrance to Kmart, located in Sturt Mall, in Wagga Wagga, NSW.
Kmart is an anchor tenant of the Meridian Mall, Dunedin, New Zealand.

In 1978 Kresge exchanged its 51% stake in Kmart Australia for a 20% stake in Coles.[3] In 1994 Coles bought back all shares held by Kresge.[3]

A long-term licensing agreement allows Wesfarmers to use the Kmart name in Australia and New Zealand.

In 2006, Coles Group announced plans for Kmart, along with BI-LO and the Coles Group liquor brands, to be merged into the Coles brand.[6] The first re-branded store was planned to open in 2007, with 40 stores, mostly former 'Super K' stores divided last decade into separate Coles and Kmart stores, reformed into Coles Superstores. By March 2007 the plans for these super centres were deferred pending the sale of all or part of Coles Group,[7] and in August 2007, incoming owners Wesfarmers said super centres would almost certainly not proceed.[8]

Kmart's performance immediately prior to the Wesfarmers takeover was poor. In May 2007, it reported a sales drop of 3.2% for the third quarter, and an overall drop in sales of 3.9% for the first three quarters.[9]

In August 2007 Wesfarmers said it would consider selling all or part of Kmart, or converting some stores to the Target brand.[10] Wesfarmers took control of Coles Group in November 2007 and by March 2008 had decided to retain Kmart and invest $300m in the chain over the next five years.[11]

After continuing poor performance in 2009, the 2010 financial year saw a large increase in EBIT, reporting revenue of A$4.02 billion (equivalent to A$4.02 billion in 2016) and an EBIT of A$190 million (equivalent to A$190 million in 2016), an increase in EBIT of over 74%.[12]

On November 15, 2012, Australia's first multi-level Kmart opened in Adelaide's Rundle Mall.[13] [14]

As of August 2015, Kmart has 203 stores trading across Australia - 52 in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, 47 in Victoria, 41 in Queensland, 23 in Western Australia, 15 in South Australia, 5 in Tasmania and 2 in the Northern Territory. There are 18 stores located in New Zealand.[15]

Store concepts

Current store concepts

Kmart Tyre and Auto Service located in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales

In 2013 Kmart began a roll-out of new store layouts. Garden plant sections were removed, and back of store areas were cut back. There was an expansion of floorspace to stock and an increase in the height of displays. The stores were given a more "Department Store" feel with front of shop checkouts replaced with an area for non-self serve customers to pay at in the centre of the store.

Former store concepts

Community

Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal

Since 1988, Kmart and The Salvation Army have collected over five million gifts from customers, which are then distributed to those in need.[20][21] The concept for the Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal first came about when Eve Mitchell, a team member from the Kmart store in Noarlunga suggested Kmart use its network of stores as gift collection points, assisting charity groups at Christmas.[22] Over 464,000 gifts were donated to the 2010 appeal.[23]

Controversy

ANZAC Day

In February 2010 Kmart requested permission from the NSW State Government to open their stores on Anzac Day prior to the traditional 1 pm time, claiming their customers would be severely inconvenienced by their closure.[24] The request was followed by criticism from politicians, ex-Diggers and their customers. Kmart's Managing Director Guy Russo withdrew the request in early March, apologising to the community and taking full responsibility admitting he was personally responsible.[25]

Girl Xpress Underwear

In November 2011 Kmart sold female underwear aimed at its youth market which were considered sexually inappropriate. The underwear contained text such as: 'call me', 'email me' and 'I ♥ rich boys'. The garments were withdrawn from sale and an apology was given after they received complaints from customers.[26]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "2015 Full-Year Results Supplementary Information". Wesfarmers. Retrieved 15 September 2015.
  2. "Wesfarmers 2013 Full Year Report" (PDF). Retrieved 26 August 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 "Sears Holdings: Kmart Timeline (US)". Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  4. "Kmart Australia: The Kmart Story". Retrieved 12 August 2011.
  5. "Hundreds of bargain-hunters queue to shop in K-Mart". The Age. 1 May 1969. p. 13. Retrieved 19 April 2010.
  6. "Strategy Update: Driving Value for our Shareholders" (PDF). Coles Group (News Release). 21 September 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-02. Retrieved 9 August 2007.
  7. "Coles defers supercentre strategy as sell-off looms". New Zealand Herald. 20 March 2007. Retrieved 9 August 2007.
  8. "'Mini-Kmarts' to hold off rivals". Australian Financial Review. 20 August 2007. p. 15.
  9. "Coles Group 2007 third quarter sales" (PDF). Coles Group (News Release). 17 May 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 August 2011.
  10. "Wesfarmers plans Coles investment, restructuring". Reuters. 16 August 2007. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  11. "Wesfarmers puts $300m into Kmart". The Age, Melbourne. 20 March 2008. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  12. "Wesfarmers 2010 Full Year Report" (PDF). Retrieved 12 August 2011.
  13. "Our toy story signals battle in city's mall". Adelaide Now. 21 October 2011. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
  14. "Kmart Supplier Update". Retrieved 2 August 2012.
  15. "Wesfarmers 2015 supplementary information".
  16. "Kmart Online Photo Centre". Retrieved 28 July 2011.
  17. "Kmart to launch HP Photo Centre 4.0 nationwide". 18 August 2009. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
  18. "Kmart Garden Super Centre Announcement" (PDF). Retrieved 7 September 2011.
  19. "Coles Scraps Super Kmart Stores". Retrieved 7 September 2011.
  20. "Salvation Army - Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal". Retrieved 1 August 2011.
  21. "Five Millionth Gift" (PDF). Retrieved 1 August 2011.
  22. "About the Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal". Retrieved 1 August 2011.
  23. "Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal". Retrieved 1 August 2011.
  24. "Kmart wants us shopping on ANZAC Day". Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  25. "Kmart backflips over ANZAC Day trading". Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  26. "Kmart pulls disgusting sleazy girls underwear off shelves". Retrieved 15 August 2012.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, May 06, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.