In 1972, Alister Norwood opened the first Jeanswest store in Perth city. It was not the kind of business one would slate for a foreign takeover, something that would in fact occur more than two decades later, but a simple denim and basics merchant stocking product from local wholesalers.
At the time of its acquisition by Hong Kong vertical operator Glorious Sun in 1998, Jeanswest had grown to 100 stores nationally and broached into New Zealand just two years later. Today, there are over 3000 sites across Australia, New Zealand, Middle East and China.
As it celebrates four decades of denim this year, the retailer continues to lure interest from abroad. British expat Mark Daynes has been its chief executive officer since October, fast tracked to the position after just three months as merchandise director. He relishes the move, now overseeing 220 stores across Australia and New Zealand.
"I think we are doing better here than in Europe," Daynes says. "Over there, there is not a lot of 'extra' money to spend on anything other than the essentials of surviving. Here customers are still shopping, it is just that they have more choices today on how to spend their hard earned cash. It is a fact that many have chosen to pay down high debt levels and rebalance their finances as a priority, but once that's done they will return."
Daynes is no stanger to recessionary pressures, having learnt his trade during the economic highs and lows of the 80s and early 90s. He spent many years in "apprencticeships" across multiple brands at the Burton Group, now powerful Arcadia, before rising to the role of brand director for Topman during the reign of Jane Shepherdson. Then followed stints at ASDA Walmart, where he was the chief operating officer at George Clothing, and brand director at Shopdirect.
"Whilst at George Clothing, I am proud to say we grew to become the UK's biggest volume retailer and number one for childrenswear," Daynes recalls. "We also launched the first supermarket wedding dress and took the brand online as well as international. We launched George across Walmart in the US, Canada, Mexico, South Korea, Argentina and Brazil."
In 2008, he received an invitation to join Target Australia as group general manager for merchandise. He spent two and a half years with the company working mostly across apparel but also soft home, electronics, toys, books, games, cosmetics and other key department store categories. He has nothing but praise for his former employer which, as Ragtrader reported in its first edition of 2012, will open its 300th store this year.
However, he believes the broader retail market needs to evolve more quickly with global trends.
"Target is a fantastic business, embarking on a substantial period of change and I am pleased to have played my part in that process. The biggest challenge facing Australian retail right now is the rapid modernisation it is going through. It is having to play catch up to survive in today's global market. But this is what good retailers get up in the morning for. The fact that tomorrow is going to be different from yesterday. Someone once told me that 'standing still is going backwards in retail' and I think that has never been truer in Australia."
"Markets are much the same worldwide with global travel and the ever-increasingly important digital space, you can now shop New York, London or Paris with ease. Customers are the same around the world, whether they are in Mexico, Canada, UAE, Fiji, UK or Australia, they all think the same way. All are looking for exciting, stimulating product, offering outstanding value and with a suitable efficient service or experience."
Last year, Jeanswest commissioned creative retail agency DDB Shop to create a tool for aiding in-store customers find the perfect pair of jeans. The result was iDenim Match, an iPad application guiding customer choices based on style, occasion, specialty, fits and wash choices and presenting results from multiple angles and zooms. Over 54,000 images of models wearing jeans were stitched together to create high resolution movies, which played automatically while product strengths were highlighted. The application launched at Jeanswest's Melbourne Central store, running on iPads located in-store and displayed on large screens.
While Jeanswest is looking to develop its digital capabilities, Daynes says it is equally focussed on growing its international retail footprint.
"We do not see online as something different, it has always been an extra store," he explains. "Online is a rapidly growing part of our business and we predict this will continue as today's customer changes their shopping habits. Online needs to be considered as part of the experience - it's our 24 hour store that can be shopped when the others can't, or alternatively, as customers are on the go from their mobile devices."
As for the recent spate of store closures by major Australian retailers, including Suzanne Grae's complete departure from the New Zealand market, Daynes says it is not unusual for companies to re-evaluate their retail footprint. Take Premier Retail, owner of fashion brands such as Portmans and Just Jeans, which announced it would close 50 underperforming stores last year but open up to 100 new sites in high-performing centres.
"We always review our store portfolio for opportunities to maximise our performance," Daynes says. "This can mean store closures, refits or new openings. We have a long list of retail spaces we are currently looking to open Jeanswest stores in. We are also looking to grow our global retail portfolio and have some interesting plans on this front."
In the meantime, there are grand plans to mark the company's 40th birthday. This month it will release an Anniversary Denim Collection, featuring new branding and intricate detailing. Embroidery, pocket flashers, distressed hardware, highlight stitching, 40th internal tagging and 1972 rivets are just some of the highlights. The collection will cover key denim trends such as straight, super skinny, flare, boot cut and high-rise skinny, with competitive pricing from $79.99 for some 5 Pocket Denim styles and $149 for Selvedge Denim.
The product drive will be supported through a mix of print, digital and street posters using black and white imagery to capture the brand's heritage. This theme will be extended to a 'What's Your Denim Moment' competition inviting customers to submit photos and stories related to their memorable denim experiences. Daynes says it has been a team effort to pull the product and marketing campaign together.
"All we have been focussedon is Jeanswest the brand, its DNA, creating our own in-house design team to develop the brand's handwriting and basic 101 retailing. Today everyone who works at Jeanswest is clear about where we are headed and the part they play in that journey."