Department store Myer will soon announce a number of "exciting" new additions to its brand portfolio, following what it says was the mutual exit of womenswear label Simona.
Myer, which has stocked Simona as part of its portfolio for the past two years, has hit back at claims that the brand has 'defected' to rival David Jones.
Commenting on the issue, Myer group general manager women’s fashion Nicole Naccarella said the brand's departure from the Myer fold was mutual, ahead of plans by the department store to boost its own brand portfolio shortly.
“We manage a broad portfolio of brands from international and Australian designers, national brands, and Myer Exclusive brands, and we adapt this mix in response to our customers’ desires,” she said.
“In this context, brands come and go. Simona was disappointing for us and for the brand over the past two years so we mutually agreed to the exit. We constantly review our offer to the customer to deliver sales and margin growth and Simona was not a brand that resonated with our customer. We have some exciting new brands to announce to our customers soon.”
Simona is one of a number of brands that have recently joined David Jones on a department store exclusive basis including Givenchy, Joseph, Sunseeker, Finders Keepers and Gumboots.
However, Naccarella also revealed that while Pucci was touted by David Jones as a new addition to its “department store exclusive” troupe, the brand is in fact still also stocked by Myer.
“Also, I’d like to confirm that Pucci is not a department store exclusive. We continue to range Pucci footwear in our stores, as outlined by Bernie Brookes last week on our Q3 sales media call,” she said.
Myer has confirmed a sales lift for the third quarter of fiscal year 2013, despite the recent exodus of designer brands to rival David Jones.
The company revealed a rise in third quarter total sales, for the thirteen weeks to April 27, 2013 of $652.5 million, up 0.5 percent compared to last year.
On a comparable store sales basis, sales were also up, 0.4 percent compared to last year, representing the fourth consecutive quarter of positive comparable store sales growth for the retailer.
Key categories of Menswear, Cosmetics, Womenswear, and Childrenswear were again the strongest performers during the quarter according to the company.