This article may require
cleanup to meet Wikipedia's
quality standards. The specific problem is: The article is full of incorrect grammar and unsorted information. (December 2022) |
Company type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Industry | Retail |
Founded | 1969 |
Headquarters | , |
Number of locations | 325 stores (2023) |
Area served | Australia & New Zealand |
Key people | Ian Bailey (CEO Department Stores Wesfarmers & Managing Director, Kmart) |
Revenue |
|
Total assets |
|
Number of employees | 40,000 (2023) |
Parent | Wesfarmers |
Website |
kmart kmart |
Kmart Australia Limited ( /ˈkeɪmɑːrt/ KAY-mart, doing business as Kmart, Kmart Australia, Kmart New Zealand and Kmart Australia And New Zealand and stylised as Kmart) is an Australian chain of retail department stores owned by the Kmart Group division of Wesfarmers.
The company operates 325 stores across Australia and New Zealand, [1] with its head office located in Mulgrave, Melbourne. Kmart Group, the department store division of Wesfarmers, also owns and operates Target Australia and online retailer Catch.com.au.
Kmart Australia Limited was created out of a joint venture between G.J Coles & Coy Limited (Coles) and the S.S. Kresge Company which was the company that operated Kmart stores in the United States. Kresge owned 51% of the common stock in the company and Coles owned the remaining 49%; together they began to develop Kmart stores in Australia in 1968. [2]
The first store was opened on 30 April 1969 in Burwood East, a suburb of Melbourne. On opening day it was estimated that 40,000 people passed through the checkouts, and the store took in over $97,000 (equivalent to A$1.31 million in 2024) of profit.[ clarification needed] Because of the number of people that were coming through the store the doors had to be closed 45 minutes after the opening as a safety measure. [3] The store was opened by Mrs HB Cunningham, wife of the president and chairman of the S.S. Kresge Company. [4] [5] The site was renovated in 2010 to be a shopping mall known as Burwood One; Kmart still operates a store at the new mall. [6]
In 1978, Kresge (since 1977 known as the "Kmart Corporation") exchanged its 51% stake in Kmart Australia for a 20% stake in G.J. Coles & Coy (later Coles Myer). [2] In November 1994, Kresge/Kmart Corporation divested its 21.5% stake in Coles Myer. [2] [7]
Kmart expanded to New Zealand in 1988 with their store in Henderson, a suburb of Auckland. [8]
In 2006, Coles Group announced that Kmart along with Bi-Lo and the Coles Group liquor brands would eventually be integrated. [9]
The first re-branded store was planned to open in 2007, and 40 stores were reformed into Coles Superstores, mostly former "Super K" stores which had been divided into separate Coles and Kmart stores a decade earlier. By March 2007 the plans for these super centres were deferred pending the sale of all or part of Coles Group, [10] and in August 2007, incoming owners Wesfarmers said super centres would almost certainly not proceed. [11]
In May 2007 Kmart reported a 3.2% drop in sales in the third quarter and an overall drop in sales of 3.9% in its first three quarters. [12]
In July 2007, Wesfarmers announced that they intended to buy the Coles Group for $22 billion. [13]
In August 2007, Wesfarmers said it would consider selling all or part of Kmart, or converting some stores to Target. [14] [15] 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. [16]
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$5.33 billion in 2024) and an EBIT of A$190 million (equivalent to A$252 million in 2024), an increase in EBIT of over 74%. [17]
This increase was achieved under the leadership of Guy Russo, a former McDonald's executive who scrapped periodic sales and well-known name brands in favour of drastically reducing prices, streamlining its supply chains, investing in store-branded products and introducing more on-trend pieces. [18]
Kmart also rearranged its stores to eliminate traditional department divisions such as “electronics” in favour of thematic groupings such as “kitchen”, and relocated cash registers from the front of the store to the centre – which was criticised early on, [19] but which was part of a large Wesfarmers investment in store renovations to “make them look like Disneyland”. [20]
On 15 November 2012, Australia's first multi-level Kmart opened in Adelaide's Rundle Mall. [21] [22]
By August 2015, Kmart had 214 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, five in Tasmania and two in the Northern Territory. There were 20 stores in New Zealand. [23]
In August 2017, Wesfarmers purchased the use of the Kmart brand name in Australia and New Zealand for $100 million, ending a long-term licensing agreement between Coles and Sears for use of the Kmart name. [24] [25]
In 2018, all Kmart stores ceased trading of DVDs, CDs, video games, televisions, video game consoles, DVD players and CD players, using the floor space in stores for more children's products and homewares. [26] [27] The home entertainment department had been popular with shoppers, and the decision to scrap it was blamed for Kmart's profit slump from $415 million in 2017 to as low as $385 million in 2018. [28]
Between 2020 and 2021, 92 Target stores were converted into Kmart locations. [29] [30] [31]
In July 2022, the New Zealand division of Kmart announced plans to shift their Auckland distribution centre to Hamilton, [32] with permission of the Waikato-Tainui iwi. [32] It has since opened in September 2023, [33] [34] [35] becoming the new North Island distribution centre for Kmart. [34] [35]
In July 2023, Wesfarmers announced it would reorganise Kmart and Target internally and run them as one combined business. [36]
For fiscal year 2020–2021, Kmart Australia reported AU$9.982 billion in revenue with a growth of 8.3% from the previous year. [56]
In the first half of the 2022–2023 fiscal year from July–December 2022, Kmart's revenue was $5.7 billion – an increase of 24.1% over the previous half year. Over the same period its earnings rose 114% to $475 million. [57]
Anko is Kmart Australia's house brand: an evolution of the “&Co” branding it had previously used for individual departments such as “Kids&Co”, “Home&Co” and “Clothing&Co”. Introduced in 2019 to celebrate Kmart's 50th anniversary, Anko also means “A New Kind Of”, representing the company's changed philosophy since 2008. [58] A 2024 article by The Australian reported that 85 per cent of products in Kmart stores are Anko brand. Anko has the largest market share in the home and toys, menswear, womenswear and children’s wear categories in Australia. [59]
Target began stocking Anko products in 2024. [60] Anko is also an international brand: Kmart has made arrangements to sell its products in other department stores in countries such as Thailand, Indonesia and Canada. [61] In March 2023, Zellers began stocking Anko products after obtaining exclusive distribution rights to the brand in Canada. [62] Anko products are sold online in India through Amazon and Flipkart. [63] [64]
The low prices, new stylishness and fast turnover of Kmart's own-brand designs sparked an online subculture of amateur home renovators and decorators, many of whom were suburban women, who used social media to show how they were styling their Kmart purchases and incorporating them into DIY projects that became known as “Kmart hacks”, along the lines of the “ IKEA hacks” online community which had existed since 2006. [65] Traditional media coverage praising particular “Kmart hacks” and other clever consumer tips by “Kmart mums” further popularised Kmart as a place to source luxury-styled products at low prices. [66] [67]
The Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal is an annual Christmas gift appeal run by Kmart and The Salvation Army since 1988. [68] The concept 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. [69] As of the 35th appeal in 2022, the event has raised over $5.6 million and delivered 10 million gifts to those in need. [70]
This article may require
cleanup to meet Wikipedia's
quality standards. The specific problem is: The article is full of incorrect grammar and unsorted information. (December 2022) |
Company type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Industry | Retail |
Founded | 1969 |
Headquarters | , |
Number of locations | 325 stores (2023) |
Area served | Australia & New Zealand |
Key people | Ian Bailey (CEO Department Stores Wesfarmers & Managing Director, Kmart) |
Revenue |
|
Total assets |
|
Number of employees | 40,000 (2023) |
Parent | Wesfarmers |
Website |
kmart kmart |
Kmart Australia Limited ( /ˈkeɪmɑːrt/ KAY-mart, doing business as Kmart, Kmart Australia, Kmart New Zealand and Kmart Australia And New Zealand and stylised as Kmart) is an Australian chain of retail department stores owned by the Kmart Group division of Wesfarmers.
The company operates 325 stores across Australia and New Zealand, [1] with its head office located in Mulgrave, Melbourne. Kmart Group, the department store division of Wesfarmers, also owns and operates Target Australia and online retailer Catch.com.au.
Kmart Australia Limited was created out of a joint venture between G.J Coles & Coy Limited (Coles) and the S.S. Kresge Company which was the company that operated Kmart stores in the United States. Kresge owned 51% of the common stock in the company and Coles owned the remaining 49%; together they began to develop Kmart stores in Australia in 1968. [2]
The first store was opened on 30 April 1969 in Burwood East, a suburb of Melbourne. On opening day it was estimated that 40,000 people passed through the checkouts, and the store took in over $97,000 (equivalent to A$1.31 million in 2024) of profit.[ clarification needed] Because of the number of people that were coming through the store the doors had to be closed 45 minutes after the opening as a safety measure. [3] The store was opened by Mrs HB Cunningham, wife of the president and chairman of the S.S. Kresge Company. [4] [5] The site was renovated in 2010 to be a shopping mall known as Burwood One; Kmart still operates a store at the new mall. [6]
In 1978, Kresge (since 1977 known as the "Kmart Corporation") exchanged its 51% stake in Kmart Australia for a 20% stake in G.J. Coles & Coy (later Coles Myer). [2] In November 1994, Kresge/Kmart Corporation divested its 21.5% stake in Coles Myer. [2] [7]
Kmart expanded to New Zealand in 1988 with their store in Henderson, a suburb of Auckland. [8]
In 2006, Coles Group announced that Kmart along with Bi-Lo and the Coles Group liquor brands would eventually be integrated. [9]
The first re-branded store was planned to open in 2007, and 40 stores were reformed into Coles Superstores, mostly former "Super K" stores which had been divided into separate Coles and Kmart stores a decade earlier. By March 2007 the plans for these super centres were deferred pending the sale of all or part of Coles Group, [10] and in August 2007, incoming owners Wesfarmers said super centres would almost certainly not proceed. [11]
In May 2007 Kmart reported a 3.2% drop in sales in the third quarter and an overall drop in sales of 3.9% in its first three quarters. [12]
In July 2007, Wesfarmers announced that they intended to buy the Coles Group for $22 billion. [13]
In August 2007, Wesfarmers said it would consider selling all or part of Kmart, or converting some stores to Target. [14] [15] 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. [16]
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$5.33 billion in 2024) and an EBIT of A$190 million (equivalent to A$252 million in 2024), an increase in EBIT of over 74%. [17]
This increase was achieved under the leadership of Guy Russo, a former McDonald's executive who scrapped periodic sales and well-known name brands in favour of drastically reducing prices, streamlining its supply chains, investing in store-branded products and introducing more on-trend pieces. [18]
Kmart also rearranged its stores to eliminate traditional department divisions such as “electronics” in favour of thematic groupings such as “kitchen”, and relocated cash registers from the front of the store to the centre – which was criticised early on, [19] but which was part of a large Wesfarmers investment in store renovations to “make them look like Disneyland”. [20]
On 15 November 2012, Australia's first multi-level Kmart opened in Adelaide's Rundle Mall. [21] [22]
By August 2015, Kmart had 214 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, five in Tasmania and two in the Northern Territory. There were 20 stores in New Zealand. [23]
In August 2017, Wesfarmers purchased the use of the Kmart brand name in Australia and New Zealand for $100 million, ending a long-term licensing agreement between Coles and Sears for use of the Kmart name. [24] [25]
In 2018, all Kmart stores ceased trading of DVDs, CDs, video games, televisions, video game consoles, DVD players and CD players, using the floor space in stores for more children's products and homewares. [26] [27] The home entertainment department had been popular with shoppers, and the decision to scrap it was blamed for Kmart's profit slump from $415 million in 2017 to as low as $385 million in 2018. [28]
Between 2020 and 2021, 92 Target stores were converted into Kmart locations. [29] [30] [31]
In July 2022, the New Zealand division of Kmart announced plans to shift their Auckland distribution centre to Hamilton, [32] with permission of the Waikato-Tainui iwi. [32] It has since opened in September 2023, [33] [34] [35] becoming the new North Island distribution centre for Kmart. [34] [35]
In July 2023, Wesfarmers announced it would reorganise Kmart and Target internally and run them as one combined business. [36]
For fiscal year 2020–2021, Kmart Australia reported AU$9.982 billion in revenue with a growth of 8.3% from the previous year. [56]
In the first half of the 2022–2023 fiscal year from July–December 2022, Kmart's revenue was $5.7 billion – an increase of 24.1% over the previous half year. Over the same period its earnings rose 114% to $475 million. [57]
Anko is Kmart Australia's house brand: an evolution of the “&Co” branding it had previously used for individual departments such as “Kids&Co”, “Home&Co” and “Clothing&Co”. Introduced in 2019 to celebrate Kmart's 50th anniversary, Anko also means “A New Kind Of”, representing the company's changed philosophy since 2008. [58] A 2024 article by The Australian reported that 85 per cent of products in Kmart stores are Anko brand. Anko has the largest market share in the home and toys, menswear, womenswear and children’s wear categories in Australia. [59]
Target began stocking Anko products in 2024. [60] Anko is also an international brand: Kmart has made arrangements to sell its products in other department stores in countries such as Thailand, Indonesia and Canada. [61] In March 2023, Zellers began stocking Anko products after obtaining exclusive distribution rights to the brand in Canada. [62] Anko products are sold online in India through Amazon and Flipkart. [63] [64]
The low prices, new stylishness and fast turnover of Kmart's own-brand designs sparked an online subculture of amateur home renovators and decorators, many of whom were suburban women, who used social media to show how they were styling their Kmart purchases and incorporating them into DIY projects that became known as “Kmart hacks”, along the lines of the “ IKEA hacks” online community which had existed since 2006. [65] Traditional media coverage praising particular “Kmart hacks” and other clever consumer tips by “Kmart mums” further popularised Kmart as a place to source luxury-styled products at low prices. [66] [67]
The Kmart Wishing Tree Appeal is an annual Christmas gift appeal run by Kmart and The Salvation Army since 1988. [68] The concept 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. [69] As of the 35th appeal in 2022, the event has raised over $5.6 million and delivered 10 million gifts to those in need. [70]