2006 awards celebrated
Melbourne-based bridalwear store Mariana Hardwick, menswear boutique Harrolds, sleepwear chain Peter Alexander, womenswear chain Portmans and discount department store Target took out the top gongs during a glittering awards ceremony staged at Sydney's Establishment last week.
Sydney-based childrenswear boutique From St Xavier was the sole New South Wales winner, taking out the independent youthwear/childrenswear category.
The six beat off stiff competition from all around the country to take out the awards, the third annual, with entries in the chain category more than double last year's number.
Ragtrader editor Tracey McEldowney credited the influx in entries this year to a raft of changes made to the way the awards were constructed.
The first change resulted in the chain store category being divided in two - under 20 and over 20. This had the desired effect of pitting apples with apples among the big boys and allowing some of the smaller chains a chance to shine in their own right.
The second change saw award organisers fine-tune the boutique category - dropping the state by state formula in favour of separate womenswear, menswear and childrenswear/youthwear segments.
"The third and final change saw a top notch industry panel put together to throw their thoughts into the mix about which department store truly deserved to be crowned king," McEldowney said.
Award judges Amanda Young and Belinda Smart noted the standard of all entries was particularly impressive, given the tough trading conditions the industry was experiencing.
The winning retailers had set the bar by achieving consistently high standards across all areas of their business - including training, information technology, supply chain management and distribution, the judges said.