Myer celebrated the refurbishment of its Garden City, Western Australia store over the weekend with star ambassador Kris Smith causing a stir, but the relaunch is a small part of a larger plan.
The Garden City relaunch marks the beginning of a push by the retailer to increase focus on Western Australia and roll-out a number of new stores across Australia in the near future.
Managing director Bernie Brookes recently revealed that Myer plans to spend millions more on the state of WA in future in an effort to enhance its position in the local market and is on track to pursue an aggressive store roll-out.
The expansion plan will see Myer open up to 12 new stores by 2014, including one in Joondalup Western Australia, four in Queensland, three in New South Wales, three in Victoria and one in Canberra.
Myer spent upwards of $6 million on the Garden City store revamp according to Brookes, and it's an investment the company hopes will pay off. As reported last week on ragtrader.com.au, the retailer recently suffered a drop in sales for the six months to January 29, 2011, with a fall of 3.5 per cent to $1.73 billion, down from $1.79 billion on the previous corresponding period.
The Garden City renovation has added extra floor space to the complex in order to include six new cosmetics brands and nine new fashion brands, as well as new automated escalators, updated floor finishes, fixtures and fittings.
Other recent investments by the retailer include a complete rebuild the state-of-the-art Myer Melbourne store, which now boasts nine floors, over 200 new brands, two cafes and a champagne bar. The Melbourne flagship establishment will be officially launched on March 31, 2011.
Myer has also recently incorporated a new Point-Of-Sale system across all its stores and invested heavily in Priority One sales and service program in an effort to improve customer service in its stores as well as speed and efficiency on sales transactions.