Web Briefs

Scarfe's roll out
ADELAIDE: Department store Harris Scarfe is set to break into the Queensland market with a sweeping retail roll out strategy. Three sites have already been confirmed for the state, with a new store set to open next month at Chermside. Two additional Queensland sites are still believed to be undergoing due process. It is understood the Adelaide-headquartered company, which currently has 40 stores throughout the country, is aiming to have a total of 50 nationwide sites by the end of fiscal 2010. The company has also set its sights on expansion within the Victorian market, with 12 sites currently operating throughout the state. Harris Scarfe offers a range of apparel, homewares and sportswear products, with brands including Van Heusen, Pierre Cardin, Savannah, Luca & Marc, Puma and Reebok.

Ugg's Chinese charge
NATIONAL: The parent company of footwear brand Ugg Australia has inked a $5 million deal to sell the brand throughout China. Deckers Outdoor Corporation, which acquired the brand in 1995, has teamed with Taiwan-based shoemaker Stella International to drive sales of the brand in the Chinese market, via newly forged wholesale and retail portals. The deal will see the Aussie-founded brand sit alongside Stella's other core stable of footwear brands which include Paul Smith, Prada, Hugo Boss, Nine West, Camper and Kenneth Cole.  Deckers, which plans to open one to two stores in China in 2008, said it would own 51 per cent of the venture with an initial investment of $1 million being paid by each party. The brand would also be wholesaled through Stella's 100 high-end stores, labelled Stella Luna and What For respectively, and produced at its facilities in the Guangdong Province.