News

This was a mere day after chewing the ear off Goldman Sachs' Andrew McLennan for daring to raise the inventory issues that have fascinated so many short-sellers of late.

"I'd like to make sure that everybody on this call clearly understand that when we say things in addition to what's in our Powerpoint presentations and the ASX, it is all audited reviewed," he said. "So I think it's important to make that [clear], and I find it astonishing that Goldman Sachs would even repeat something like that."

In similar circumstances, most CEOs wouldn't dare compound criticism by simultaneously reducing their exposure to the company they lead. But Clarke is a rather rare vintage.

“The Emporium truly sets us apart and differentiates us from the busy and competitive beauty marketplace, and we invite customers to visit us and experience it for themselves.”

That's the official word from Myer GM for beauty and lingerie Sue Price, as the department store raises its investment in cosmetics.

Myer has launched a Beauty Emporium at its Sydney City site, upgrading its offer outside core categories of apparel and footwear.

The Beauty Emporium is also open at Myer’s Chadstone and Melbourne stores, and will be rolled out to more stores over the coming months.

Australian beauty revenue is expected to increase at an annualised 0.8% over the five years through 2018-19, to $6.5 billion.

This includes an expected revenue growth of 0.2% in the current year, according to business information firm IBISWorld.

Beauty Emporium by Myer will aim to offer customers a one-stop shop for everything beauty, including brands that are exclusive to Myer. 

It houses over 80 brands, as well as emerging Korean and Japanese products.

In the area of wellness, Myer will offer brands including: 39 Degrees, Vida Glow, Tonik, In Essence; and will also be launching Myer Ambassador Racheal Finch’s Kissed Earth range in October.

Some of the core brands from Korea (K-Beauty) include: Banilla Co, AHC, Huxley, Neogen, as well as Australian brands Eco Tan, Sand & Sky, Alpha H, Face Halo; and socially conscious brands: Ere Perez, Inika, Nude By Nature, Beauty Boosters, to name a few. 

The Beauty Emporium will have specialised team members to service customers. 

“Beauty Emporium by Myer confirms our place as the destination for all things beauty," Price said. 

“Our new Emporium provides our customers with a carefully curated collection of the most-wanted, most-innovative skincare and makeup brands the world has to offer, many of which you will only find at Myer. 

“This is backed by our wonderful team members, who will provide the highest level of advice and service to our customers on our range and offer.

“The Emporium truly sets us apart and differentiates us from the busy and competitive beauty marketplace, and we invite customers to visit us and experience it for themselves.”

Online wine retailer Vinomofo is venturing into on-demand delivery through a strategic pilot with Deliveroo and UberEats.

The pilot, which kicked off on Friday, allows consumers in Melbourne’s inner city suburbs to order from a range of Vinomofo wines through the Deliveroo or UberEats apps for speedy delivered straight to their door.

The retailer, which has traditionally sold wine in bulk before the recent launch of a three bottle 'welcome kit', will sell single bottles through the new partnership as well as magnums of Saint Roch Le Rosé. 

Vinomofo co-founder and CEO Justin Dry said exploring on-demand delivery was a “no brainer” for the company, and while the pilot is limited to Melbourne for now, Dry revealed plans to expand the service if it is well received. 

“On-demand is something we’ve been working on for a while now – it’s a no brainer for us as it’s a way to give our mofos what they want, when they want and introduce us to a new audience too,” he said in a statement. 

“Our plan over the coming months is to test, evolve and expand further around the country if the pilot proves to be successful.” 

The range of wines available through the delivery platforms will include producers such as Helen’s Hill, Patrick Of Coonawarra, Penley Estate, Rob Dolan and more. 

Vinomofo has been expanding its reach of late, with a recent foray into the corporate world. The wine retailer appointed dedicated business wine liaisons to work with businesses on everything from large corporate events and client gifts to humble Friday drinks. 

Profits at Dr Martens surged by 70% in the year to the end of March, boosted by the success of designs such as its “vegan” range of boots.

Online sales also rose by two-thirds to £72.7m, accounting for 16% of total revenues for the company, which is expanding to international markets.

Sales of the vegan range – which replaces the leather upper with synthetic polyurethane plastic – have increased by “multiple hundreds of percent” in recent years, according to its chief executive, Kenny Wilson. Vegan boots now account for 4% of the shoemaker’s sales, amid increasing awareness of the environmental impact of livestock among consumers.

Other successful products included departures from the original Dr Marten boots such as sandals, collaborations with the Sex Pistols and designer Marc Jacobs, and versions for children.

Increased margins on the products meant underlying earnings rose by 70% year-on-year to £85m, the company said on Monday.

The fast growth comes as the shoemaker’s owner considers options to cash in its investment. Permira bought Dr Martens in 2013 in a £300m deal, but the private equity investor is now looking at a possible sale or stock market flotation to realise its profits.

Wilson, the former Cath Kidston and Levi’s executive who was hired last year, said a decision from Permira “could be coming over the horizon”.

“They are starting to look ahead to when they are going to sell the business,” he said.

Permira, which has offices across Europe, has more than €40bn (£37.2bn) of capital that it has either spent or is currently investing, according to its website. Its standard holding period for investments is five to seven years; it has owned Dr Martens for five and a half years.

During that time Dr Martens has almost tripled its revenues, from £160.4m in the 2012-13 financial year to £454.4m in the year to 31 March 2019.

Dr Martens has been pushing to increase its sales of items direct to consumers, rather than paying a large chunk of the sticker price to third-party retailers. Direct-to-consumer revenues rose by 42% year-on-year to just shy of £200m, accounting for 44% of sales.

Wilson said the company was “empowering rebellious self-expression” for the millions of customers who bought 8.3m pairs of shoes over the year.

Dr Martens were first manufactured in Wollaston, Northamptonshire, in 1960, after R Griggs Group bought the design from the eponymous German inventor. The boots became part of the standard outfit for skinheads, punks and goths, but have in recent years been adopted by pop and film stars such as Pharrell Williams, Rita Ora and Julia Roberts.

Dr Martens had 109 of its own stores at the end of March, including two new locations in the UK and four new shops in the US.

Specialty retailer Baby Bunting said its online focus is paying off after posting strong online sales in the 12 months to June 30.

The retailer posted a 46 per cent increase in online sales for the period compared to the previous corresponding period saying “online continues to be the company’s largest trading unit” with online sales being 11.8 per cent of total annual sales.

Baby Bunting said click-and-collect sales grew 55 per cent in the period, and in areas where Baby Bunting has a store, click-and-collect sales now represent around 50 per cent of online sales in that trading catchment.

“Again, this demonstrates the role that stores and online can play in driving complementary sales growth,” the company said in a statement about its full-year results on Friday.

The one-stop baby shop posted a 43.3 per cent rise in full-year profit to $12.4 million, buoyed by demand for its new product range and further expansion of its private label and exclusive wares.

Total revenue for the 12 months rose 21 per cent to $368 million and the company hiked its fully franked final dividend by 2.6 cents to 5.1 cents.

“I am very proud of our performance for the year,” said Matt Spencer, Baby Bunting CEO and managing director. “We had an excellent year that has consolidated our position as the go-to destination for baby goods in Australia.”

Spencer said the retailer has pursued a number of actions to grow market share and profitability during FY19, including a continued focus on customer service, capitalising on available market share opportunities, securing prime sites for our store network, stabilising gross margin without compromising value, expanding private label and exclusive products and investing in their people and systems to support growth.

Spencer said Baby Bunting is expecting FY20 to be another year of solid growth with pro forma NPAT expected to be in the range of $20 million to $22 million and pro forma EBITDA expected to be in the range of $34 million to $37 million, representing growth of 25 per cent to 36 per cent.

Retail Apparel Group-owner The Foschini Group has lauded the Australian retail market, and indicated it is gearing up for further expansion throughout Australia and New Zealand.

The South African retail group, which owns local brands such as yd., Connor, Tarocash, Johnny Bigg, and Rockwear, said topline growth in Australia is in the double-digit, and it’s planning to introduce more of its brands to the region – namely jewellery brand American Swiss. 

TFG chief executive Anthony Thunström told a media roundtable the company sees significant opportunity in the Australian and New Zealand market, according to Moneyweb.za.

“Australia has not been in a recession since 1990 – it is almost the polar opposite to SA with unemployment also at record lows,” Thunström said.

“Retail is not by any means easy there with the high costs around rentals and other operational costs, so there is little margin for error to get it right or wrong.”

While David Jones-owner Woolworths Holdings has struggled in the Australian market, having recently booked a $437.4 million impairment against the department store due to economic headwinds, The Foschini Group has found success in multiple markets by focusing on delivering a more niche offering.

Thunström said the business doesn’t dictate from afar what will be successful in the Australian market, but instead purchased business with strong leadership teams in order to allow them to steer the local offering.

“If we went to Australia or the UK and tried to run the business ourselves, we would end up in tears,” Thunström said, according toBusinessReport.za. 

“There are too many local nuances.”

According to Business Report, the retail group said it will inject R500 million ($48 million) into technology in order to get ahead of the changing retail market – having witnessed its online sales increase 57.2 per cent over the year to March.

New Zealand born menswear label Rodd & Gunn will open its first experiential retail store in London's Mayfair retail district. 

Opening in time for the Northern Hemisphere's Autumn season, the flagship store will span across two floors and will offer an expansive street-level retail experience, while a sub-street floor will be fitted out to serve the brand's wholesale clients. 

The sub-street floor will also serve as a fulfilment centre during the early development of the online business. 

Rodd & Gunn CEO Mike Beagley said that despite being so far away from the brand's roots, he believes the Mayfair store will be well received. 

"Even at the exploratory stage, my sense of connection with the London retail scene proved surprising.

"Geographically, it’s a very long way from our roots in the deep south of New Zealand, literally half a world, yet it’s immediately familiar. 

"There’s something exceptional about this opportunity. The reverence New Zealand carries with it in the United Kingdom suggests a considerable headstart for us in establishing our story; it’s alluring, engaged conversations are organic.

"The time is right for Rodd & Gunn to establish a foothold in Europe, and to start with a beautiful location within metres of Regent Street, often regarded as the epicentre of London retail, puts concrete beneath its promise," he said. 

The store will serve as a hub for further expansion across Europe and will open on August 23. 

P.E Nation will make half of its range more sustainable by the first quarter of 2020.

Dubbed 'The Conscious Nation', the intiative will see the brand implement a range of environmental strategies across production, packaging and delivery.

It will follow the release of its first ever recycled athleisure set tomorrow.

P.E Nation is set to drop an additional seven sustainable pieces in October 2019 as part of the Q4 launch.

This next instalment will consist of the ‘Flex It’ set, along with two new sports bras and three leggings, incorporating sustainable and recycled materials.

In addition to fabric-based improvements, P.E Nation is transitioning all packaging to be fully recyclable by the end of 2019.

Already using compostable envelopes and satchels, the brand will also use recyclable cardboard boxes and drawstring bags made from rPET (material made using recycled PET plastic) to further reduce their environmental impact.

The brand has re-designed all swing tags and labelling, which will come into effect by late 2019.

Recycled cardboards and post-consumer waste plastics (rPET) will be introduced for all swing tags, while woven and care labels will be comprised of 100% recycled polyester yarns.

Heat press printing will be introduced by Q1 2020 to further reduce environmental impact.

P.E Nation’s patches also will be made from recycled materials, appearing on the sleeves of jackets and sweats throughout the range.

P.E Nation is part of a group that is an AB member of SEDEX - an organisation dedicated to driving improvements in ethical and responsible business practices in global supply chain and Amfori Bepi - which provides a range of services that enable companies to drive focused, environmental improvements in their supply chain, and to trade with purpose.

Tomorrow, the brand will launch its first ever recycled athleisure set.

The 'Strike Set' is made from sustainable techno-fabric, ‘Vita Power by Carvico’.

In addition to performance fabric attributes, Vita Power by Carvico is made of econyl regenerated nylon.

Econyl uses synthetic waste such as fishing nets to generate a new nylon yarn. 

It is not the brand's first initiative in this space, having launched a range of organic cotton tanks and tees in July 2019.

Co-founder Pip Edwards said this is a longstanding commitment.

“As a brand, we are deeply committed to our people and the planet. The ongoing development of our social and environmental strategy is of great importance.

"Our goal is to implement social and environmental practices across the whole business to ensure that we are delivering conscious fashion all the way from the supply chain directly to the customer.”

It was steady in Victoria at 4.8 per cent but rose sharply in South Australia to 6.9 per cent.

But on the more stable trend measure, national unemployment lifted to 5.3 per cent - its highest level in a year.

And underutilisation actually increased through the month to reach 13.6 per cent in a sign that there remains plenty of slack in the jobs market.

The figures came as global sharemarkets fell sharply on concerns about the world economy.

The S&P/ASX 200 was down 2.1 per cent, or $38 billion, shortly before midday after a terrible lead-in from the United States. Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average index shed 3 per cent after a key economic indicator suggested the US is facing a recession.

The price of long-term government debt is now lower than short-term debt, a development called an inverted yield curve, as investors believe the economy is likely to deteriorate. The yield curve has inverted ahead of every recession in the past 50 years.

Concerns over the American economy plus poor indicators out of China and Germany, and growing fears about the impact of Brexit on the European economy were all cited as reasons for the sell-off.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese said the government had no plan to deal with the troubles facing the economy, instead thinking it could "put its feet up" for the next three years.

He said the issues facing households, the retail sector and the gyrations on global markets all pointed to economic trouble.

"It's not okay on the economy, it's not okay on the people who are falling behind," he said.

But Reserve Bank deputy governor Guy Debelle, in a speech on the major ricks facing the domestic economy delivered in Sydney on Thursday morning, said stabilising house prices and a boost from the Morrison government's tax cuts were likely to help strengthen families' bottom lines and the overall economy.

He said while household consumption had been muted over the past 12 months, there were some positive signs ahead.

Target will make 80 positions at its head office redundant as part of a new strategy that will see it move upmarket by offering better quality clothing, fashion and home furnishings to put some distance between it and the rest of the discount department store sector.

Target will be repositioned over the next two to three years to represent a more quality product offer that delivers value rather than simply heavy discounting and bargain-basement prices.

Staff at Target began to attend briefings this morning, The Australian can report, where they were informed about the corporate restructure that will see large changes across key management roles in buying, sourcing, marketing and other head office roles.

It will see 80 corporate roles made redundant. There will be an attempt to redeploy staff to other parts of the retailer and its parent company, Wesfarmers.

Changes within the stores would be seen over the next two years, with managing director Ian Bailey telling The Australian he believed it was the right time to recast Target as offering shoppers a better quality fashion or homewares product that could match it with more middle market or up-market retailers like Myer or Country Road — but at much more affordable price points.

The re-engineering of key buying and sourcing teams under Kmart managing director Mr Bailey, who is also responsible for Target and recently acquired Catch Group, is part of his gambit to accelerate the business transformation of the struggling chain of stores and return it to the successful retailer it was almost a decade ago.

Mr Bailey has told his staff today that Target will switch its attention to improving its offer, and the quality of the offer, around three categories — women and men’s clothing, “soft” furnishings (bedding, cushions, linen etc) and toys — and that the head office management needed to be restructured to meet this challenge.

“It is really about the acceleration of the transformation of Target, to do that we know we need to make ongoing improvements to the offer both in terms of the product, the stores and online, and so what we have done is reorganise our teams to go after that,’’ Mr Bailey told The Australian.

“So we are making some adjustments to the number of people we have, so when we go to the old shape to the new shape we have about 80 roles that are no longer required.”

He said Target needed to stand for better quality products, and it would stand apart from stablemate Kmart and other retailers in the discount sector such as Big W and Best & Less and instead would take the fight to more upscale chains.

“To a large degree it is what customers are already asking us to deliver, which is in many ways what we did in the past, which was really good quality products, stylish and at a good price. So when you are looking at who we would benchmark ourselves against I think the benchmark is less about Kmart and Big W it is much more about the specialty retailers and others who are out there who sell similar products at a higher price.

“It could be Cotton On, Country Road, it could be Myer, so anybody within that space which is selling good quality products but at a higher price than Target would sell. It is very much this value based offer but for higher quality products.

“And if you looked at Target’s history this is where it performed at its best, going back to around 2010, 2012, that era and it was exceedingly strong in some of those categories at that time.’’

He said it was still a discount department store, in terms of prices, but at much better standards and quality.”

Target has been in the doldrums for almost a decade, writing off hundreds of millions of dollars and struggling to turn a decent profit.

In January, Wesfarmers, which owns Kmart and Target, revealed that sales at Target was still under pressure, only growing 0.2 per cent for the first half and same store sales up 0.5 per cent. Last year Target booked total impairments of $306 million against the carrying value of its brand name, remaining goodwill and property and equipment.

To help resuscitate earnings and drive more efficiency from the business Mr Bailey told investors last year he intended to reduce around 20 per cent of Target’s selling space in the next five years.

Super Retail Group boss Anthony Heraghty believes shoppers are in a “brutal and volatile” state as they assess their household budgets against spending needs, and that as the retail sector goes through one of its biggest transformations in its history his business will up its investment in a wide range of operations from online to cyber security to protect its long-term earnings.

Unveiling Super Retail’s fiscal 2019 results this morning, Mr Heraghty also told The Australian that Amazon remained a massive threat to local retailers, including his BCF, Rebel, Macpac and Supercheap Auto chains, and that the US retail giant’s power shouldn’t be underestimated.

Super Retail was nominated by many analysts as one of the biggest losers when Amazon arrived 20 months ago in Australia, but the company this morning posted strong sales and profits which helped its shares rally more than 6 per cent amid widespread carnage on the market.

Shares in Super Retail bounced 6 per cent this morning on the release of its fiscal 2019 performance and at noon were up 33 cents, or 3.8 per cent, at $9.01.

Super Retail has posted an 8.6 per cent rise in full-year net profit to $128.3 million as sales lifted 5.4 per cent to $2.57 billion. Pre-tax earnings increased 7 per cent to $314.7m. The result included $8.9m in expenses in relation to revision of wages underpayment estimates and remediation costs with a $9m in extra charges to EBITDA for 2020 to be booked due to a new wages agreement.

A trading update showed a mix performance for its businesses, with Supercheap Auto sales for the first six weeks of fiscal 2020 up 3 per cent, sales at Rebel better by 2 per cent, BCF was 5 per cent up and Macpac down 3 per cent with that fall blamed on a shift in the timing and duration of its winter promotion.

Mr Heraghty said the retail environment remains highly competitive as it faces structural disruption at an unprecedented scale.

“The retail market in Australia is going to be challenging for some time yet, I think you still going to have a pretty brutal and volatile customer and the industry is still going through it’s single biggest transformation since its inception and as we consider online, role of technology, costs etc, I wouldn’t declare that we are through that period in any way, shape or form.’’

This has seen Super Retail up its investment in its own capabilities and operations to cope with this level of disruption and ultimately benefit from it as well.

“The area we are focused on is investing in the business to deal with that change, we are seeing our depreciation (costs) increase, it has gone up 16 per cent in this period, and that’s invested in the business, so we have not only invested in our core store network, invested in e-commerce platform, we have rebuilt our integration systems, we have even set up new product information management, we have had to strengthen in cyber security — which if you think about it that is a concept that would be foreign to retailers ten years ago — we had to invest heavily in the business to be able to navigate this change in the market.’’

Turning to the results, Supercheap Auto, which accounts for more than half of its earnings, posted sales increase of 3.4 per cent to $1.04bn as EBIT rose 5.3 per cent to $120.6m.

At its Rebel chain sales were up by 3.8 per cent to $1.016bn as EBIT lifted 2.5 per cent to $93.8m. Key categories of apparel and footwear delivered solid sales growth and fitness accessories also performed well.

At Boating Camping Fishing (BCF) sales rose 3.3 per cent to $514.6m but earnings fell from $27.3m to $20.8m as heavy discounting in the sector and strong competition pinched profitability.

Its recently acquired Macpac business improved sales from $81.5m to $138.8m as its business was fused together with Rays with earnings hitting a combined $13m from $2.3m in 2018.

Super Retail declared a fully franked final dividend of 28.5 cents per share, up from 27.5 cents, payable September 26.

JB HI-FI Group improved annual net profit and group sales for the seventh year in a row in FY19, despite the challenging retail environment felt by many during the election cycle.

This improved result was felt across JB HI-FI’s Australian and New Zealand business, as well as homewares retailer The Good Guys, which cumulatively saw NPAT up 7.1 per cent to $249.8 million, and sales reach $7.1 billion – 3.5 per cent higher than FY18. 

Murray also pointed to a strong online showing – which grew at 23 per cent year-on-year, now making up 5.5 per cent of total sales – though maintained that the company’s physical stores remained incredibly important to its overall health. 

“We’ve been doing a lot of great work. I think 23 per cent growth over a number of years is pretty solid growth,” Murray told Inside Retail. 

“What’s most important to me is that we’re growing online, but doing it in a way that doesn’t damage the store network.

“We’re not trying to have one at the expense of the other. You get the same price in-store, you get the same price online. I want to make sure that customers get a great outcome shopping at JB whichever channel they shop in.”

Additionally, while the business isn’t rolling out as many stores as it has previously, it is looking at each new opportunity as a chance to learn. For example, the big-box retailer opened its first small-scale stores in Sydney’s Virgin and Jetstar domestic terminals.

The lesson learned? The JB HI-FI formula works just as well when shrunk down.

“We can run a 75sqm store and make money. [That is] an incredibly small footprint store relative to our normal stores,” Murray said. 

“Obviously, for us that is interesting, because if you can make a 75sqm store work, and a 1200sqm store work, what are the options in between?”

Murray stopped short of saying JB HI-FI would invest into further smaller-format stores, as has been seen by the likes of Coles, Woolworths and Ikea, but told Inside Retail it is something the management team thinks about often.

“We need to make sure that all of our stores remain productive, and that we find the right store size for the right location,” Murray said. 

Turnaround in NZ

While JB HI-FI has almost 200 stores in Australia, it holds a comparatively slim market share in New Zealand at only 14 stores. However, Murray maintains that the electronics retailer is in fourth position in its only overseas business, and holds some of the highest-turnover stores in the New Zealand market.

“You have two strong competitors in Noel Leeming and Harvey Norman, and they’re turning over [approximately] $700 million each. Our presence is smaller, so therefore our market presence is smaller,” Murray said.

“The best decision we made [in New Zealand] was putting Cherie Kerrison as managing director. That’s been terrific. I think the results we’ve achieved since she started in October have been really pleasing.

“We’re a year into a [multi-year] turnaround program, so we’ll see how we go,” Murray said.

Despite the improving performance from the New Zealand side of the business, Murray said JB HI-FI has no plans to expand into other international markets.

Yum recruits Pepsico VP 

Yum Brands has announced that Pepsico executive Chris Turner will join the company as chief financial officer, closing out a nearly five-month-long search to fill the position. The appointment is effective August 8.

Turner will report to chief executive officer Greg Creed, and will assume global responsibility for finance, corporate strategy, supply chain and information technology. 

At Pepsico, Turner led its Walmart business as senior vice-president and general manager. Before that, he was a senior vice-president with Pepsico’s Frito-Lay North America. Before joining Pepsi, Turner spent more than 13 years at management consulting firm McKinsey & Co.

Yum Brands, based in Louisville, Kentucky, has over 48,000 restaurants in more than 145 countries and territories primarily operating the company’s restaurant brands – KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.

Apple’s Ive goes independent

Apple’s chief design officer Jony Ive will leave the iPhone maker later this year to form an independent design company, with Apple as one of its primary clients.

Ive, a close professional confidant of founder Steve Jobs, has long been a major part of Apple’s phenomenal growth story. He joined the company in 1992 and led its design teams from 1996. He took up his current role as chief design officer in 2015.

Apple CEO Tim Cook praised Ive’s contribution to the company, saying, “Jony is a singular figure in the design world and his role in Apple’s revival cannot be overstated.” 

Ive’s new company will be called LoveFrom, the Financial Times reports, and will be based in California. Ive told the newspaper he would work on Apple priorities wearable technology and healthcare in addition to unspecified “personal passions”. 

Rooney to join CBRE

Simon Rooney, one of Australia’s leading capital markets brokers, will join CBRE as executive managing director, retail investments, Shopping Centre News reports.

Rooney is well known for the volume of retail transactions he has executed totalling more than $20 billion over his career, including the recent sales of Brisbane’s Indooroopilly shopping centre, Westfield Eastgardens in Sydney and the Vicinity Centres portfolio.

Rooney is joining CBRE on August 1, after 25 years at JLL, where he carved a niche as the market leader in institutional retail transactions and ranked as one of the firm’s top three brokers globally.
Rooney has also been instrumental in significant mixed-use transactions such as 80 Collins Street in Melbourne and the MLC Centre and Wynyard Place in Sydney.

Australian furniture business King Living has opened its first showroom in Canada, continuing the brand's global roll-out which has seen stores open in Shanghai, Singapore, Malaysia and New Zealand. 

Located in a newly renovated 1000sqm heritage building in shopping district South Granville, Vancouver, the showroom will offer sofa designs, dining ranges, contemporary bed and mattress ranges and outdoor collections. 

King Living chief executive Anna Carrabs said the Canadian launch is a key component to the furniture retailer’s global growth strategy – with Vancouver being the first of many more showrooms in the American region. 

“King Living has already expanded into the Asian market with showrooms in Singapore, Malaysia and Shanghai, which have proven to be very successful in the roll out of King Living internationally,” Carrabs told Inside Retail.

“Showrooms will always be a huge part of the King DNA. We want customers to see, feel, test, and get to know the pieces in the flesh. All our designs are investment pieces made to last, so the tactile experience a showroom offers will always be incredibly important.”

According to Carrabs, the Australian reputation for quality goods has set them apart from international competitors, and has been the driving force behind its global expansion.

“One of our biggest challenges has been challenges has been ensuring we find the right location for our King Living showrooms,” Carrabs said.

“It is so important that our stores reflect our core values and Australian way of life. It took a considerable amount of time to find our showroom in Vancouver.

“We wanted to be part of the vibrant shopping district which features around great galleries and gourmet restaurants so now, King Living is right at home.”

Clothing, footwear and accessories retail turnover rose 2.0% in June according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). 

This rise follows a 0.2% decline for the sector in May. 

Overall, Australian retail turnover increased 0.4% in June, following a lacklustre 0.1% rise in May. 

Despite the strong results from the Clothing, footwear and accessories category, ABS director of quarterly economy wide surveys, Ben James said that the retail industry is still facing challenges. 

"There were rises in five of the six industries this month, although overall the retail environment remains subdued.

"Rises were seen in Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing, Other retailing (0.6%), Cafes, restaurants and takeaway services (0.5%), Food retailing (0.1%) and Household goods retailing (0.2%). 

"Department stores (-0.6%) was the only industry to fall this month," he said. 

Online retail contributed 6.1% to the total retail turnover in June 2019, while in June 2018 its contribution was 5.7%. 

In seasonally adjusted terms, New South Wales (0.3%), Western Australia (0.8%), Queensland (0.4%), Victoria (0.3%), Tasmania (1.5%) and the Australian Capital Territory (0.3%) all experienced rises in June, while South Australia (-0.3%) and the Northern Territory (-0.2%) experienced declines in the month. 

In a statement, National Retail Association CEO Dominique Lamb said that the most recent results show that retail has bounced back. 

"Just hours after some had been declaring that there was a ‘retail recession’, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) sales figures for June saw a healthy spike in turnover for the month.

"In the final month of the 2018-19 financial year, retail sales soared by 0.4 per cent, a welcome sign following underwhelming results in previous months. 

"But what’s also important to note is that last week’s figures don’t include the impact of the personal tax cuts or the latest reduction in interest rates (both of which took place in July).

"This does not mean that retail is out of the woods and there are still challenges ahead, however, there is reason to be optimistic that retail is breaking from its slumber and is ready to surge in the second-half of 2019," she said. 

Mirvac has reported a 6.0 per cent dip in full-year profit to $1 billion as the property group says trust in its brand is helping sustain it as the residential building industry goes through a rough patch.

Revenue for the 12 months to June 30 was down 1.0 per cent on the previous year to $2.78 billion and Mirvac will pay an unfranked final distribution of 6.3 cents, up from 5.5 cents in the previous corresponding period.

“Despite a challenging market, we have seen sustained sales throughout the financial year, and we achieved our settlement target and maintained our default rate at less than two per cent,” said Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz, Mirvac chief executive.

“This is testament to the enduring quality of our products and our trusted brand.”

The company’s earnings from residential building fell 33 per cent from the previous year to $201 million – a result it said was as expected and due to fewer apartment lot settlements.

Earnings before interest and taxes from Mirvac’s office and industrial division rose 26 per cent and its retail segment edged up 4.0 per cent.

Lloyd-Hurwitz said their retail division delivered another solid result, which is pleasing news given the highly competitive and rapidly evolving retail sector.

“Our commitment to constantly curating retail mixes and creating unique experiences has created a portfolio of thriving retail centres that offers the right retail in the right urban locations – densely populated with low unemployment, high incomes and strong population growth,” she said.

“We are also seeing the increase in value that our retail expertise is able to deliver to our office and residential portfolio.”

Mirvac shares were up 4.23 per cent to $3.325 at 1305 AEST on Thursday.

The Executive Director of the Australian Retailers’ Association, Russell Zimmerman, said June retail trade figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showing annual growth of 2.55%, with Queensland (5.68%) and Victoria (3.47%) continuing to outpace the country, were best viewed as “mostly positive, with areas of concern.”

Addressing month-on-month figures showing growth in June of 0.4%, after a 0.1% rise in May, Mr Zimmerman said these underlined the ARA’s belief the federal election dampened spending, which was starting to rebound.

“My first point is the “election effect” has now washed out of the retail trade figures, and the numbers for June – with strengthening in both year-on-year and month-on-month indices – underline that,” Mr Zimmerman said.

“That said, whilst the overall picture is positive, these numbers do highlight some areas of concern,” he added.

Mr Zimmerman noted that ARA commentary around patchy but nevertheless positive overall retail trade in recent months appeared to be correct, but stressed that this overall sentiment did not whitewash the fact – borne out by today’s figures – that some parts of the retail sector remained heavily subdued.

“We’ve had comment today, for example, from David Jones that they’re finding it tough; the exit of Debenham’s from Australia in a tough environment for department stores is further underlined by two consecutive months of contraction in that sector, for a year-on-year expansion of just 0.93% ,” Mr Zimmerman said.

“In contrast, continued growth in the café, restaurant and takeaway sector shows strengthening expenditure in a very discretionary category, so we certainly know consumers have money to spend,” Mr Zimmerman said.

Mr Zimmerman said that annual growth in food retailing was being supported by strong growth in supermarket trade (3.81%), whilst a fall in specialised food (-1.55%) possibly reflected the impact of the drought.

“So again, the overall picture is pleasing, but when you unpack it, there are these areas for concern,” he said.

Mr Zimmerman noted that continued year-on-year falls in furniture retail figures (-3.31%) were probably compounded by the effects of an entrenched culture of permanent discounts in a densely competitive sector.

“On the other hand, we’ve seen increases in the clothing (1.89%) and footwear and personal accessories (6.36%) categories, but these may be at the expense of margin due to ‘end of year’ sales,” Mr Zimmerman said.

Mr Zimmerman said he suspected end of financial year sales at reduced margins had similarly compounded the disappointing numbers in the department store sector in today’s June figures.

Mr Zimmerman again noted the longstanding decline in newspapers, books, and other recreational goods, but said substantial growth in sales for pharmacies, cosmetics, toiletries and online reinforced the ARA’s view that these categories – viewed overall – were emblematic of consumers’ shift to online purchases in certain areas.

Mr Zimmerman noted Queensland and Victoria – accounting for 44% of the national population – continued to drive retail sales nationally, and that spending in NSW appeared to be recovering in today’s figures.

“Even so, we remain deeply worried about Northern Territory retailers, who continue to experience declining volumes, and we’re concerned South Australia has declined for two consecutive months, so as I said these figures are mostly positive, but there are certainly areas of concern that we’ll watch,” Mr Zimmerman concluded.

Mike Ashley has emerged as the winner in an auction to buy the UK fashion retailer Jack Wills for £12.7m.

Mr Ashley's company Sports Direct has bought Jack Wills out of administration after competing against Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group.

It will acquire 100 Jack Wills stores in the UK and Ireland and take on 1,700 staff as part of the deal.

It is the latest in a series of struggling companies that Mr Ashley has acquired, with mixed results.

Sports Direct recently admitted that it regretted rescuing House of Fraser a year ago after discovering problems that it described as "nothing short of terminal" - and that it will have to close more stores. 

Commenting on Jack Wills, Sports Direct said: "We will look to work with the landlords to reduce the rents to keep as many stores trading as possible."

The company has 10 stores overseas and KPMG, which is the administrator to Jack Wills, is examining options for those assets.

Suzanne Harlow, chief executive of Jack Wills, said that while the company has worked on improving its financial performance: "The challenging trading environment led us to conclude that the company's long-term future would be best served as part of a larger group and Sports Direct will enable us to do this."

Jack Wills reported an operating loss of £14.2m for the year to 28 January 2018, the most recent results available. 

The company will be housed in a new division at Sports Direct which will focus on buying and building fashion and sports brands.

It will report to Michael Murray, Sports Direct's head of elevation and Mr Ashley's future son-in-law who is engaged to the retail tycoon's daughter Anna.