Australian Discount Retail
Encyclopedia
The Retail Adventures group is the largest discount variety retailer in Australia following the acquisition of Australian Discount Retail in 2009.
Australian Discount Retail was formed in 2005 after the sale of the discount division of Miller's Retail
(now known as Specialty Fashion Group) and the sale of The Warehouse Australia by The Warehouse Group
New Zealand to private equity firms Catalyst and CHAMP. Catalyst and CHAMP reportedly paid $200 million which was funded by NAB Capital, ANZ and BOS International. The combined entity was Australia’s leading discount variety retailer with revenues nearing $1 billion and a store presence in every state and territory in the country.
The company traded under the household names Go-Lo
/Crazy Clark's
(275 stores), Chickenfeed
(39 stores), and Sam's Warehouse
(99 stores). In 2008 the company rebranded all The Warehouse stores as Sam's Warehouse as a condition of sale from The Warehouse New Zealand.
Retail Adventures has more than ten buyers ranging merchandise for over 25 buying categories. This merchandise is sourced from suppliers based locally and overseas.
The main competitors of Australian Discount Retail include Kmart
, Homeart and The Reject Shop
.
On 20 January 2009 the Board of Australian Discount Retail has placed the company in voluntary administration. Staff have been assured their entitlements are safe, but the future of their employment would not be known for months as a buyer was sought for the business. The size and scale of ADR makes this the biggest retail collapse Australian business in over five years.
On 23 March 2009 it was announced that the company had been sold to Retail Adventures Pty Ltd, a company owned by Australian millionaire Jan Cameron
, the former owner of Kathmandu, for an undisclosed sum. The sale guarantees the 2,500 permanent and 7,500 casual jobs under ADR.
initiated by Jan Cameron & David Young since the acquisition of ADR in 2009. Young and his colleagues believed that the business was too complicated, and are planning a number of changes to be carried out by 2013.
, rather than strategies like sales per square meter and department performance. David Young explains "That core range is built on the 80-20 principle: 20 percent of our range will give us 80 percent of our business." In this way, the company focuses on their core merchandise range and seasonal demand is what drives the rest of the business platform. This in turn means that the specific stock will variate around the country, due to each individual stores ability to be flexible in promotion, planning and stock display.
rate. As part of "Project Simplify", Retail Adventures is beginning to offer training, development programs and potential career development to its employees. Employment opportunities which open up within the company are usually made aware to the current staff, so as to encourage them to stay within the company, whilst being able to grow or move up in business. These offers are generally circulated through emails and company bulletins.
as a way to help keep overall costs down because of the lack of trading complexities. Whilst maintaining currently buying techniques, the company is in the process of upgrading its technologies to better manage aspects such as allocation, forecasting and replensihment of its merchandise.
Australian Discount Retail was formed in 2005 after the sale of the discount division of Miller's Retail
Miller's Retail
Miller's Retail Ltd. is an Australian company that is one of the country's largest retailers. It is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and had a market capitalisation of $360 million as at March, 2006....
(now known as Specialty Fashion Group) and the sale of The Warehouse Australia by The Warehouse Group
The Warehouse Group
The Warehouse Group Limited, founded by Stephen Tindall in 1982, is the largest department store retailer operating in New Zealand. The Warehouse is largely a discount store similar to Wal-Mart in the United States, however The Warehouse sells far more generic brand merchandise than other discount...
New Zealand to private equity firms Catalyst and CHAMP. Catalyst and CHAMP reportedly paid $200 million which was funded by NAB Capital, ANZ and BOS International. The combined entity was Australia’s leading discount variety retailer with revenues nearing $1 billion and a store presence in every state and territory in the country.
The company traded under the household names Go-Lo
Go-Lo
Go-Lo is a chain of Australian discount variety stores with hundreds of stores throughout Australia. It is part of the largest discount retailer group in Australia. It is owned by Jan Cameron's Retail Adventures along with Sam's Warehouse, Crazy Clark's and Chickenfeed stores. The company was sold...
/Crazy Clark's
Crazy Clark's
Crazy Clark's Discount Variety Store is an Australian company that operates over 150 Discount Variety stores in its chain across Queensland, New South Wales, Northern Territory and Western Australia. The company also owns and operates a chain store called Go-Lo. Crazy Clark's sells clothing,...
(275 stores), Chickenfeed
Chickenfeed (Retail Chain)
Chickenfeed is a chain of discount retail stores in Australia. It currently has 39 stores across Australia, with about half of those in Tasmania and is owned by Retail Adventures Pty Ltd....
(39 stores), and Sam's Warehouse
Sam's Warehouse
Sam's Warehouse is an Australian brand of discount retail stores, similar to Crazy Clark's. It was founded in 2008 after the The Warehouse sold its Australian operations to Australian Discount Retail, and the stores were required to be re-branded...
(99 stores). In 2008 the company rebranded all The Warehouse stores as Sam's Warehouse as a condition of sale from The Warehouse New Zealand.
Retail Adventures has more than ten buyers ranging merchandise for over 25 buying categories. This merchandise is sourced from suppliers based locally and overseas.
The main competitors of Australian Discount Retail include Kmart
Kmart Australia
Kmart Australia Limited is a discount department store chain owned by Wesfarmers. It operates 172 stores in Australia and 15 in New Zealand, with its head office located in Mulgrave, Victoria. Wesfarmers uses the Kmart name under licence from Sears Holdings Corporation.-History:Kmart Australia...
, Homeart and The Reject Shop
The Reject Shop
The Reject Shop is an Australian discount variety store chain. Founded in 1981 as a "seconds" store in South Yarra, Victoria, the company currently operates over 190 stores in Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales, Western Australia, Queensland, Tasmania and Australian Capital Territory...
.
On 20 January 2009 the Board of Australian Discount Retail has placed the company in voluntary administration. Staff have been assured their entitlements are safe, but the future of their employment would not be known for months as a buyer was sought for the business. The size and scale of ADR makes this the biggest retail collapse Australian business in over five years.
On 23 March 2009 it was announced that the company had been sold to Retail Adventures Pty Ltd, a company owned by Australian millionaire Jan Cameron
Jan Cameron
Jan Cameron, CNZM is Australia's forth richest woman and the founder of the Kathmandu clothing company. She currently lives in Bicheno, Tasmania. She currently runs various companies and business interests, which together span Canada, America, Britain, New Zealand and Australia...
, the former owner of Kathmandu, for an undisclosed sum. The sale guarantees the 2,500 permanent and 7,500 casual jobs under ADR.
Project Simplify
Project Simplify is a long term strategic planStrategic planning
Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy. In order to determine the direction of the organization, it is necessary to understand its current position and the possible avenues...
initiated by Jan Cameron & David Young since the acquisition of ADR in 2009. Young and his colleagues believed that the business was too complicated, and are planning a number of changes to be carried out by 2013.
Stocking Strategy
Retail Adventures focuses on the Pareto PrinciplePareto principle
The Pareto principle states that, for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.Business-management consultant Joseph M...
, rather than strategies like sales per square meter and department performance. David Young explains "That core range is built on the 80-20 principle: 20 percent of our range will give us 80 percent of our business." In this way, the company focuses on their core merchandise range and seasonal demand is what drives the rest of the business platform. This in turn means that the specific stock will variate around the country, due to each individual stores ability to be flexible in promotion, planning and stock display.
The Chickenfeed Brand
Each of the 4 subsidiaries of Retail Adventures entered the acquisition with individual strategies and slogans. Retail Adventures plans to merge all of their counterparts into Chickenfeed, with the slogan "Bargains With A Smile". Chickenfeed retailers on average outperformed the all the other markets owned by Retail Adventures by at least 30% per square meter. Chickenfeed utilize catalog advertising approximately 25% less than its counterparts, and use television advertisements as their main marketing venture, working with 4-5 different product commercials. The success seen from these community strategies that Chickenfeed has utilized is what Retail Adventures plans to use for each of its brands.Employee Preservation
The retail industry generally suffers from a high staff turnoverTurnover (employment)
In a human resources context, turnover or staff turnover or labour turnover is the rate at which an employer gains and loses employees. Simple ways to describe it are "how long employees tend to stay" or "the rate of traffic through the revolving door." Turnover is measured for individual companies...
rate. As part of "Project Simplify", Retail Adventures is beginning to offer training, development programs and potential career development to its employees. Employment opportunities which open up within the company are usually made aware to the current staff, so as to encourage them to stay within the company, whilst being able to grow or move up in business. These offers are generally circulated through emails and company bulletins.
Supply Chain
As part of "Project Simplify", Retail Adventures plans to utilize its unused physical space. The company is looking to either add 150 Chickenfeed stores to the brand, or become a third party logistics provider. Retail Adventures takes advantage of parallel importingParallel import
A parallel import is a non-counterfeit product imported from another country without the permission of the intellectual property owner. Parallel imports are often referred to as grey product, and are implicated in issues of international trade, and intellectual property.The practice of parallel...
as a way to help keep overall costs down because of the lack of trading complexities. Whilst maintaining currently buying techniques, the company is in the process of upgrading its technologies to better manage aspects such as allocation, forecasting and replensihment of its merchandise.