News

David Jones is shrinking its gourmet food business, closing three food stores in Victoria to stem losses that blew out to $12 million in the December half.

David Jones said on Monday it would close its Bourke Street food hall in Melbourne’s CBD next month and close its stand-alone Capitol Grand and its Malvern Central food stores in April and May.

However, it will invest more in the Elizabeth Street and Bondi Junction food halls and focus more on selling packaged gourmet groceries online.

City Chic's customer-led framework helped it adapt to the casualised buying behaviour exhibited during the pandemic, the business has reported. 

In its first half results, the business highlighted that its casual brand Avenue traded well in the US, while its customer-centric model allowed it to shift its local product mix to a more casual offering. 

During the half, City Chic reported a 13.5% lift in sales revenue to $119 million. 

CEO and MD Phil Ryan said that while the business was impacted by the pandemic, City Chic maintained its focus on servicing the plus-size market. 

"Our diversified business across different brands and regions allowed us to navigate the pandemic and deliver earnings growth, despite our fashion and dress categories being impacted by lockdowns and restrictions. 

"The more casual Avenue brand traded well in the US, and in Australia our customer-led model allowed us to quickly move to more casual product. 

"We have not let the pandemic distract us from our focus on the plus-size market and digital growth through expanding the customer base globally," he said. 

The Group's focus on global expansion throughout the half saw it welcome the UK brand Evans to its portfolio. 

According to the report, City Chic continues to receive the benefit of a transitional services arrangement (TSA) in connection with the Evans eCommerce business, which is due to terminate at the end of April 2021. 

A third-party logistics provider in the UK has been selected and the website build is progressing as scheduled. 

At the end of the TSA, the Evans eCommerce business will move to the fully integrated City Chic Collective global eCommerce platform. 

"I have followed Evans for over a decade, a brand that is very well known in the UK and one which aligns with our existing product streams," Ryan added. 

"It is a perfect fit strategically, and with cash on the balance sheet and a good understanding of the brand, we were able to move quickly and acquire the business at good value.

"Over the last two years, we have more than doubled our global active customer base to 801,000 (56% YoY), increased online penetration from 40% to 73% and grown our northern hemisphere business from 16% to 45% of total sales. 

"We now have three banner brands which have very strong brand recognition, customer loyalty and traffic in their respective home countries and we will leverage these platforms to sell all our brands around the globe," he said. 

Meanwhile, the business benefitted from its other acquisition, Avenue, which contributed to a larger sales result out of the US. 

US online websites (Avenue, City Chic USA and Hips and Curves) contributed sales of $45 million in H1 FY21 compared to $26 million in H1 FY20, driven by the expanded customer base from the Avenue acquisition. 

Locally, City Chic reported that Australian and New Zealand comparable sales growth (CSG) was 19.4% (excluding Victorian store closures) and 30% growth for ANZ online.

Overall, City Chic reported comparable sales growth of 20.8% (excluding Victorian store closures) and 12.7% including the store closures. 

The business delivered an underlying EBITDA of $23.3 million - a 21.8% increase compared to the first half in FY20. 

City Chic's online sales jumped up 42% with online penetration up to 73%. 

The business closed the half with net cash of $83 million and had 96 stores at the end of December after closing four stores during the half. 

Big W's first half results were boosted by big calendar events including Christmas and Halloween, parent Woolworths Group has reported. 

The retailer's focus on family, community and a simplified customer offer also contributed to its results during the half, which saw it deliver a 20.1% increase in sales to $2.6 billion.

Big W also recorded a 165.7% increase in EBIT to $133 million in the period. 

Woolworths Group CEO Brad Banducci welcomed the positive results. 

"Big W had a very strong half with all key metrics improving, including positive momentum in customer metrics, sales growth of 20.1% and EBIT growth of 166%.

"EBIT growth was driven by strong sales, gross margin improvements and good cost control despite higher COVID-related costs.

"Sales increased in all destination areas and were buoyed by seasonal sales events such as Halloween, Click Frenzy, Big Sale (Black Friday) and Christmas," he said. 

Big W's eCommerce sales also increased during the half, jumping up 120% with digital penetration at 9.5%. 

Helping to drive this growth was an acceleration of digital capabilities including contactless drive-up pick-up, the direct to boot launch across 75 locations and the rollout of same day delivery.

On the store side, Big W also made investments into 22 stores, enhancing the fixtures and layouts in apparel, baby and home categories. 

Meanwhile, the business also distributed 2.4 million books through its 'free books for kids' initiative, donated 1000 backpacks for back to school and donated 360,000 items to local charities through partner Good360.

Overall, Big W reported gross margin at 33.7%, up 118 basis points. 

EBITDA increased 61.7% to $224 million in the half, while EBIT to sales was 5.1%, up 282 basis points. 

Japanese retail conglomerate Fast Retailing, which owns and operates Uniqlo, is now the most valuable fashion retailer in the world, outstripping Zara’s parent-company Inditex.

Fast Retailing reached a market value of $130 billion last week, eclipsing the Spanish firm for the first time, which sits around $125 billion.

According to Nikkei Asia, the business’ focus on the Asia Pacific market, which has seen regions such as China and Australia weather the storm of the pandemic relatively well and, and on casual wear, which has seen a spike in relevance due to the ongoing working-from-home arrangements many workers find themselves in, has helped to deliver the growth needed to dethrone Inditex.

The business was named the biggest apparel brand in China last year after achieving record revenue of $6 billion during FY19, and with China projected to overtake the US as the world’s leading apparel market according to GlobalData, Uniqlo is in a strong position for further growth.

The difference between Uniqlo and other ‘fast-fashion’ brands is that it places an emphasis on quality than quantity, and makes clothing that is simple – with most of its range being fairly devoid of patterns and logos.

“We don’t chase trends. People mistakenly say that Uniqlo is a fast-fashion brand. We’re not. We are about clothing that’s made for everyone,” Uniqlo chief executive Tadashi Yanai said, according to Forbes.

“People will select clothes that are comfortable to wear as working clothes, as well as in their home. There will be no need for clothes that are worn for a year and then are discarded.”

Stylerunner has today launched its in-house, vertical label, Stylerunner the Label. 

Catering to the active and busy women, the collection launches with a range of tights, crops and leisurewear pieces including tanks, tees and shorts. 

The launch forms part of an overarching Accent Group strategy which focuses on vertical brands, with sister brand Platypus also having launched its own vertical brand ITNO. 

Speaking on the launch, GM Ryan Edelmuth said that the label plays between performance activewear and functional leisurewear. 

"Stylerunner the Label is the perfect mix of lifestyle and performance pieces. 

"The label is targeted at fashion conscious woman who lead an active and busy lifestyle. 

"The objective is to develop a stylish uniform that goes from the gym, to brunch, to work," he said. 

The collection is available in-store and online and features a 'core basics' colour palette, with black, grey, olive and rust pieces peppered with bold prints. 

The label will welcome new drops every six to eight weeks, with the first collection priced between $59-$129. 

Kathmandu Group saw sales spike 12 per cent during the first half of FY21, largely off the back of a strong performance from Rip Curl.

The recently acquired surf-wear brand’s sales rose 21 per cent during the six months to January 31, adjusted for store closures, though Kathmandu’s sales plummeted 30 per cent.

During the half, 60 stores were shut down in Melbourne for 11 weeks, as well as 14 stores in Auckland. Trading in Sydney was impacted by the concern over the Northern Beaches cluster through Christmas.

Ignoring the store closures, Rip Curl’s sales rose 7.4 per cent and Kathmandu’s fell 35.4 per cent.

“Our improved first-half operating profit underlines the resilience of our Group and validates the diversification strategy, launched through the successful acquisitions and integrations of Rip Curl and Oboz,” said Kathmandu Group’s outgoing chief executive Xavier Simonet.

Earnings for the half are expected to hit between $47 million and $49 million.

Simonet said Rip Curl’s forward momentum is continuing at pace, with forward orders for the wholesale business above pre-Covid levels, and the business about to enter summer in the Northern Hemisphere.

Kathmandu saw strong camping sales, but low demand for insulation and rainwear hurt the overall result.

“To put the first half into context, Kathmandu’s profit weighting has historically been heavily weighted to the second half-year, when winter in Australasia drives demand for insulation and rainwear,” Simonet said.

“Oboz [also] delivered sales growth year on year, with the product innovation strategy pursued by the new Oboz management team reflecting in the forward order book, which is tracking well above pre-Covid-19 levels.”

Underwear brand Hanes appointed Tanya Deans as the new president for Australasia effective on 8 February 2021.

She will succeed David Bortolussi, who left the company in August. Deans has 25 years of industry experience, having held a number of product leadership roles, handling the Bras N Things brand most recently.

“I am thrilled to confirm Tanya will be our new president of our Australasia business,” said Steve Bratspies, HanesBrands CEO.

“She is an outstanding people leader with deep experience building iconic brands. Tanya has demonstrated a clear vision for the future and I look forward to working with her as we apply her experience and learnings to drive growth across our global organisation.”

Deans will lead 4,400 team members across the region who are working under the apparel and lifestyle brands including Bonds, Bras N Things, Champion and Sheridan.

She will also oversee the company’s e-commerce business and more than 450 stores.

“I am honoured to have the opportunity to lead Hanes Australasia,” said Deans.

“We have an outstanding team, iconic brands and a deep commitment to sustainability. I look forward to working with our team and the HanesBrands global organisation as we build a truly consumer-centric company and deliver long-term growth.”

Meanwhile Mark Barry was appointed to the new position of group general manager of Bonds Group (formerly Apparel Group). Kate Hann is assigned as group general manager of Bras N Things and Jo Holding was elected as general manager of Champion. Paul Gould remains as group general manager for Sheridan.

Riding the booming homewares market Nick Scali almost doubled net profit for the last six months, the business announced to the market on Thursday.

Sales for the half year to 31 December hit $171.1 million, a 24.4 per cent increase, while net profit leapt to $40.5 million from $20.3 million – a 99.5 per cent jump.

The increase was earned through increased trade compared to the same period a year ago, but also by growing gross profit margin from 62.2 per cent to 64 per cent by reduced discounting.

And to top it off, January 2021 was the largest month of written sales orders the business has ever seen.

“[We] had many challenges to navigate including government mandated store closures, supply chain issues and significant delays experienced with global shipping providers,” said managing director Anthony Scali.

“Despite these events, the team was able to capitalise on shifting consumer spending patterns and deliver a record result.”

With more Aussies and Kiwis shopping from the comfort of their own home, the business’ online sales have almost already exceeded the business’ predictions for the entire year – reaching $3.5 million of Nick Scali’s $4 million target.

And there is still scope to improve the online experience, the business said, with investment in its e-commerce capabilities already underway in Australia and New Zealand.

Nick Scali isn’t the only business that has profited from the consumer-led shift in shopping during the Covid-19 pandemic, with Temple & Webster seeing earnings jump 556 per cent earlier this week, and JB Hi-Fi’s half-year profit up 86 per cent.

However, looking ahead to the remainder of the year, the furniture business is struggling to predict what the second half could look like.

“The rate of sales revenue growth has been lower than sales orders due to the increased lead times caused by delays in raw materials to our suppliers and shipping issues which continue to be challenging,” the business said.

“These supply chain delays make it difficult to accurately predict sales revenue growth for the second half.”

There’s another plant-based meat contender in Australia.

Proform Foods launched its $11 million plant-based meat manufacturing facility in Sydney on Thursday, designed to produce 5000 tonnes of ‘meat’ each year. The 1,600 square metre facility is in Mt Kuring-Gai, in Sydney’s north, and will use 70% Australian ingredients in its plant-based meat.

Its products are made under the MEET brand and are designed to have the same taste and texture of traditional meat.

Proform Foods makes 28 different products including meatballs, burgers, “beef style” strips, “chicken style” tenders and mince. Its MEET range is available in supermarkets and is set for global distribution in 2021. And Proform Foods plans to triple in growth in the next year as the demand for plant-based meat grows.

The company was created in 2008 by Stephen Dunn, the founder of Vogel Cereals. His son, Olympic swimmer Matt Dunn OAM, serves as CEO.

“We are incredibly excited to officially open the next generation plant-based meat manufacturing facility,” Matt Dunn said in a statement. “The global demand for plant-based products is booming, and our Australian innovation wins on both taste and texture.

“With plans already in the works to expand globally, we anticipate that the business will become a global leader in the US$4.3B plant-based meat industry, creating new jobs and export growth in Sydney and across the country.”

The facility was opened by Federal Minister for Industry, Science and Innovation Karen Andrews and Federal Member for Berowra, Julian Leeser. Andrews highlighted that plant-based meat is one of six major priorities under the government’s Modern Manufacturing Strategy.

“Australians want to buy Australian Made and the world wants our food too,” she said in a statement. “By further growing this area of manufacturing we can create more jobs for Australians. This is a great example of value-adding to our proud agriculture industry, and alongside our meat producers, we can capitalise on Australia’s reputation for producing safe, premium, high-quality food.”

MEET joins the growing range of plant-based meat companies in Australia such as V2 Food and Fable. It invested $2.3 million in partnership with CSIRO as a research provider in 2006 and has since invested an extra $8 million in research and development, before spending $11 million on the new site.

In Australia, the plant-based meat sector is on track to generate $3 billion in sales and employ more than 6000 people by 2030, according to a report from Food Frontier. In addition, research from Colmar Barton found one in three Australians are consciously reducing their meat consumption, with health being a main reason for the decision. Other reasons include the environment, animal welfare, cost and growing range of plant- based that are available.

Outdoor fashion retailer Kathmandu’s chief executive Xavier Simonet has resigned after five years at the helm

Simonet is taking up a role as CEO of Austrade, the Australian Trade and Investment Commission, and will remain with the company through the next six months or until the board dismisses him.

“I have had an awesome time at Kathmandu Holdings, where I’ve spent the last five immensely exciting years,” Simonet said.

“The Group has great brands, passionate teams and strong values. I’m very grateful to our teams, to the board of directors, to our shareholders, and to my chairman, David Kirk, for their support.”

Kirk said the group was disappointed to lose Simonet, but that it understands his desire to move on to a new role.

“We wish him well in the important work he will undertake,” Kirk said.

“Xavier has led Kathmandu Holdings through a period of growth and repositioning the company.”

Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said Simonet’s appointment comes at a time when the commission has a critical role to play in helping Australian businesses export internationally and maintain global supply chains.

“Bringing a distinguished career in brand sales and marketing, international market development and acquisitions, I am sure that Mr Simonet’s extensive knowledge and wide international experience will serve Australian businesses well,” Birmingham said.

The group recently released sales figures for the first quarter of FY21, which landed 72 per cent above the same time last year. However, Kathmandu saw sales decline due to the fall in CBD foot traffic and the impact of lockdowns, which was largely offset by the gains made at RipCurl heading into summer.

Outdoor fashion group Kathmandu has seen group sales for the first quarter of FY21 72 per cent above last year, benefiting from the addition of RipCurl to its staple of brands.

The surfwear brand, which was acquired in October 2019, largely offset the negative impact felt by Kathmandu. RipCurl’s same store sales rose 26.8 per cent for the period, while Kathmandu fell 26.8 per cent due to falling CBD foot traffic and the impact of Melbourne’s and Auckland’s respective lockdowns.

The result shows the strengths of a newly diversified group, said Kathmandu Group CEO Xavier Simonet.

“We’re realising the benefit… with strong performance in summer weighted product categories for RipCurl in all key geographies following successful winter trading for Kathmandu,” Simonet said.

“The group continues to maintain a strong balance sheet and liquidity position, allowing it to respond to current trading conditions and pursue attractive growth opportunities that may arise.”

RipCurl saw strong sales in its key markets of Australia, Europe and North America, while Kathmandu enjoyed strong sales in camping and footwear – though not enough to offset falling travel related purchasing.

Footwear brand Oboz was also strong, according to Simonet, with forward ordering tracking above pre-Covid levels.

However, Simonet was quick to add that Kathmandu Group’s half year result will be highly dependent on the all-important holiday period, and that dividend payments may resume depending on the next few months’ market conditions.

Toy wholesaler Funtastic has completed its acquisition of Hobby Warehouse, Toys ‘R’ Us, Babies ‘R’ Us, and Mittoni, with shareholders voting overwhelmingly in favour the transaction.

As of Thursday 26 November, Louis Mittoni will take up the position of managing director and chief executive of the combined company, with Kevin Moore acting as chairman and former director and chairman Bernie Brookes stepping down.

Mittoni previously said this was the next phase of Toys ‘R’ Us’ relaunch, and now said the wholesale operations of Funtastic and Mittoni Technologies will support the businesses future.

“This is an exciting day for both businesses, particularly as we head into the busiest period of retail trading with Black Friday, Cyber Monday and of course, Christmas shopping,” Mittoni said.

“Toys ‘R’ Us is now one of the fastest growing online retailers in ANZ and we will now look to accelerate that growth in 2021 with further expansion plans, plus the commencement of Babies ‘R’ Us.”

The next stage of Toys ‘R’ Us’ relaunch involves building new physical and digital logistics, as well as innovative, experiential retail stores.

Last year, a Toys ‘R’ Us spokesperson told Inside Retail the business would launch several large-format bricks and mortar stores, followed by a number of smaller footprint ‘retail-lite’ stores.

“All stock is on the floor, there’s no storage space out the back. It’s impulse items under $30 for sale there, and anything over $30 is buy-in-store, ship-to-home,” the spokesperson said.

“[But] every time you open a store, you’ve got to have a very clear mindset to say we’re going to commit five years of rent as a liability on the balance sheet, which will prevent me from using my working capital for other things – buying new products, advertising, employing people. “You have to be very clear as to why you’re going to open stores. They must have an absolute purpose.”

Sales across Accent Group’s brands have grown 1.3 per cent in the first 20 weeks of the new financial year, while digital sales more than doubled.

Excluding the impact of Victoria and Auckland’s lockdowns like for like sales grew 15.7 per cent, and with the reopening of both cities trading is ahead of CEO Daniel Agostinelli’s expectations.

For all the good news, however, the board managed to avoid a spill after the business’ AGM delivered a second strike against its’ remuneration report.

Shareholders have expressed their unhappiness with Accent Group’s pay in recent years, with 54 per cent voting down the business’ remuneration report this year but 95 per cent voting against a spill.

“We’re pleased with the strong trade to date and delighted with the performance of our new stores in Stylerunner and Pivot,” Agostinelli said.

“Our plans are well set to capitalise on the important November cyber events, Christmas and back to school trading periods. Our integrated omnichannel model has allowed us to trade strongly through a highly disrupted period along with demonstrating operating capability to respond to store impacts that may arise due to Covid-19, including the current Adelaide lockdown.”

This lockdown, Agostinelli said, is unlikely to have a material impact on the company given its store footprint and demonstrated pivot to online – which has grown sales 129 per cent compared to last year.

Additionally, the business’ newest brands, Stylerunner and Pivot, are progressing well. Stylerunner has launched its first store, with an additional 3 stores to come, while Pivot has launched 3 and has an additional 15 on the way. 

In total, the business expects to launch 80 new stores, including new concepts, in FY21.

Harvey Norman has seen its unaudited profit explode 160 per cent between July and October to $341.11 million, compared to $131.17 million for the same period of last year.

Additionally, aggregated sales jumped 28.2 per cent between July and November, with all regions barring Singapore and Malaysia showing sales growth for the period.

Australian stores saw sales growth of 30.4 per cent for the six months, though this doesn’t take into account the relevant impact of store closures across Victoria and South Australia.

Likewise, New Zealand saw an increase of 20.4 per cent in local currency for the period, though this also lacks the impact of store closures in Auckland.

The most impressive gain was seen in Ireland, however, which saw aggregated comparable sales jump 52.7 per cent for the period.

The result follows a period of growth for the entire homewares sector, with mandated lockdowns forcing customers to spend more time in their homes and feeling the itch to redecorate. Executive chairman Gerry Harvey noted the opportunity early on in the Covid-19 pandemic, and was later forced to clarify that he didn’t intend to downplay the health risks.

“Now, everyone thinks I’m this callous old bastard out making a profit on other people’s misery … but believe me, that was not my intention,” Harvey told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

JPMorgan economist Tom Kennedy thinks the lack of retail services data in official figures could be hiding a boost to consumption in the third quarter.

"Australia’s retail report is heavily skewed toward goods consumption, so overlooks much of the rebound experienced across the services sector since mid-year," Mr Kennedy said.

"The goods we have in our stores are selling like crazy, like never before,'' Mr Harvey said.

The RBA now expects GDP growth of 6 per cent in the year to June 2021, up from 4 per cent.

Payroll data released on Wednesday showed a dip in the jobs recovery, but the volatile numbers reflect the usual weakness in jobs for September and October and could find a further boost as Melbourne's reopening starts to steadily filter through to the local economy.

Total payrolls declined 0.8 per cent in the two weeks to October 17 and were down across every state and territory.

Westpac's Justin Smirk noted that momentum did improve, citing the 0.9 per cent drop in the week ended October 10 meant the week ended October 17 must have been a 0.1 per cent gain.

"It is worth noting the only age group to see a lift in employment was the under 20s, which are up 4 per cent in the month to October 17 and 10.1 per cent higher than pre-COVID levels – the only age group to be so," Mr Smirk noted.

Australian discount variety store The Reject Shop has teamed with DoorDash to offer a same-day goods-delivery service. 

The Reject Shop has diversified over the years to expand its offer from general merchandise into low-priced essential products, including grocery, snacks, pet care, garden, party wares, cleaning supplies, toiletries and other household items. Customers now can order from its stores via the DoorDah app, with orders delivered in as little as 45 minutes.

“The DoorDash partnership allows The Reject Shop to trial an online offering quicker than we planned and with minimal capital investment,” said Andre Reich, CEO of the retailer.

“It is a customer-centric offering that provides new and existing customers with a choice around how they wish to shop with us, which has become increasingly important this year.”

According to the company, the collaboration marks DoorDash’s largest retail partnership in Australia on its marketplace. Both brands plan to expand the number of stores that offer online same-day delivery with South Australia coming online from this month.

To celebrate the partnership, customers within range of the 120 The Reject Shop stores will enjoy free delivery for orders from $20. The promotion will last until November 8.

After a year involving voluntary administration, buying up businesses and naming a new CEO, Seafolly has unveiled its Summer 2020 collection – including ranges printed on sustainably recycled nylon.

The swimwear collection leans into 70’s styles, animal prints, vintage florals and retro colours, though a number of its pieces use nylon sourced from plastic-recycling firm Reprieve, which transforms recycled plastic bottles into fibers for use by brands such as Seafolly, Fitbit, Ford, Kathmandu and Patagonia.

At the time of writing, Reprieve has pulled and recycled over 23 billion bottles.

“We are really proud of our team who have been pushing the boundaries on product and design for the new season at Seafolly,” said Seafolly’s new CEO Brendan Santamaria, who stepped up into the role in September after the business’ brush with voluntary administration.

“We are on a journey to enable all women to feel confident at the beach and our ethos is all about creating innovative swimwear that celebrates the modern Australian woman.”

Santamaria said his aim in taking up the role was to bounce the brand back and pave the way for a post-Covid-19 recovery – adding that now is the time to shake up the way things are done at Seafolly.

While this isn’t the first time the business has used sustainably-sourced fibers in its swimwear, Seafolly is making a concerted effort to offset the 8 million tons of plastic that enter the ocean each year, which could help it to reach a customer that is increasingly value-led.

And, heading into a Christmas where it’s expected customers aren’t likely to follow their normal buying behaviours after months of uncertainty created by the Covid-19 pandemic, that could make the difference.

An artist's image of the eight-storey, 15,000-square-metre office building approved for Vicinity's Bayside mall in Melbourne. 

Vicinity's portfolio is more weighted to Victoria than some of its peers, and has felt the effect of the long second lockdown imposed on Melbourne, which began easing at the end of October.

Chief executive Grant Kelley told shareholders at a meeting conducted online on Thursday that most of Vicinity's Melbourne retailers began reopening from October 28 and Victorians had been quick to return to shopping centres, "displaying considerable pent-up demand".

"In the final week of lockdown, centre visitation was 39 per cent of the prior year," he said.

"In the week just gone, this has increased to 77 per cent of the previous year.

Vicinity has not provided earnings guidance for fiscal 2021 but said it does intend to pay a interim distribution this half. No distribution was paid in the second half of the 2020 financial year, due to the disruption of the pandemic.

"Through the extraordinary efforts of all Australians and most recently those in Victoria, we now have very low COVID-19 case numbers nationally," Mr Kelley said.

"Centre visitation across our portfolio continues to rebound, and we expect this trend to continue as travel restrictions lift, office workers gradually return to CBDs and general economic conditions improve."

During the disruption, Vicinity has been quietly getting its development pipeline into shape, submitting plans and winning approvals for a seriesof projects that could significantly diversify its portfolio through the addition of office space, serviced apartments and even residential towers.

Those plans include major redevelopments at its Box Hill and Bankstown malls, along with approvals for further development at Chadstone, including a nine-storey office building. As well, last month it won approval for an eight-storey, 15,000-square-metre office building at its Bayside centre in Melbourne.

Sporting goods retailer Decathlon has partnered with logistics business DHL Supply Chain to automate its Sydney warehouse, with the aim of effectively doubling productivity.

In the warehouse a number of Goods-to-Person robots will be deployed, which are capable of moving at speeds of close to one metre per second, and will enable human workers to dispatch up to 144 customer orders per hour.

The process is being handled by Körber, the same technology firm that is working with Wesfarmers to bring automated fulfilment to Catch Group.

The robots will additionally be able to navigate the warehouse autonomously, and can support a range of picking strategies, minimising manual labor and errors. And while the partnership will begin with these robots only in the Sydney facility, Decathlon already has plans to bring them to other warehouses around the country.

“The pandemic brought with it a surge in e-commerce demand, particularly for sporting goods as gyms and fitness facilities around Australia were forced to stop trading,” said Decathlon Australia chief executive Olivier Robinet.

“We have more than 15,000 SKUs in this fulfilment centre, so we need an innovative and practical solution that could scale up our ability to fulfil customer orders without prohibitively increasing variable costs.”

The solution was automation, Robinet said.

DHL Supply Chain ANZ chief executive Saul Resnick noted the pandemic has put significant pressure on all retailers’ supply chains, and it has become the business’ propriety to work with their customers to build more resilient and stress-resistant supply chains moving forward.

“Robotics and automation are incredibly important technologies that can make our customers’ operational processes more flexible, but they also create a better and safer working environment,” said Resnick.

Decathlon aren’t the first business bring automation into the fold following the nationwide stress-test caused by Covid-19, with eStore Logistics’ $40 million investment into automated fulfillment and Woolworths partnering with Knapp bringing robot-driven fulfilment to the forefront.