I don’t really shop at either but I always think of Target as being slightly better than Kmart, where Kmart to me is more like a Big W (cheaper and tackier).
Speaking of Big W… I noticed the one at QV changed their layout a bit and looks way cheaper and tackier than it already did. I don’t know why some of these department stores insist on changing their layouts to look more shit and tacky. Target stores generally have a slightly nicer feel about them but Big W just feel cheap and nasty and most Kmart stores I know have converted to that similar look and feel the last couple years.
Seven News says Christmas trees and decorations have gone on sale at Myer and David Jones at Chadstone shopping centre, 3.5 months before Christmas. That’s ridiculous!
Nine had a report in the Sydney news about supermarkets stocking shelves with Christmas products last night. It does seem to be getting earlier each year.
Big W’s problem is that they are clearly wanting to be on the same level as Target in terms of name brands and all that, but they are stuck in the early 2000s with their store layouts and really tacky, outdated shop fitouts (e.g. high shelves everywhere and those rubbish minimalist oval shaped signs they’ve been rolling out recently).
There’s a Big W in the Sydney suburb of Menai which I visited recently. It still had the ancient Wal-Mart style signage everywhere and the “Photo Processing” section still has a giant 3D textured roll of Fujifilm on it. In most older stores, newer signage has been placed, but that’s basically polishing a turd.
Even a new Big W store looks horribly dated, in design and as you say there are plenty of stores that have gone untouched for close to 20 years.
I also think their recent decision to dedicate a solid 10-15% of the store for kids party supplies is a disaster waiting to happen. Their product mix is also still way off compared to Kmart & Target.
I find myself leaving Big W having purchased something far more often than Kmart.
But yeah, that QV store is awful - looks like something that was closing down. But I maybe they’re using Big W as a test for that comment people seem to have about Woolworths looking too upscale and therefore making them seem expensive compared to Coles?
The new Kmarts are way too fancy for what they are.
The only thing I go to Big W for these days are books. Good selection including brand new releases and usually comparable or better prices than you can find online.
I think part of the problem is that they still carry a lot of hardware/garden/automotive stuff that people automatically go to Bunnings for. It’s a waste of floorspace. And I agree that the format of the stores is in dire need of an overhaul.
yep. they carry too much stuff that i would not go to big w for. my local had at one point some massive usb sticks - a few 64 gig ones at $75 each. if i want a usb stick i don’t automatically think “I’ll go to big W for one” and at $75 it’s hardly an impulse purchase. same as playstation and xbox consoles. not sure how many they sell.
my local got rid of some of the automotive and put in a party area with balloons and decorations and this seems to be selling well. i see people walking out the centre with balloons all the time…
Do they all still have this? It looks like it was removed from the QV store recently. I actually thought this was an OK idea to differentiate themselves a bit but it should have been less kid focused and more general party focused. Kind of like Sparty’s in Spotlight stores is the direction it should go as I’ve been there to get helium balloons blown up for 30ths and stuff.
Yeah a few weeks ago I actually thought the QV store was possibly shutting down. They re-did the layout particularly at the entrance and it actually looks uglier, tackier and potentially temporary but seems to have stayed that way for a couple months now.
Extremely quiet at the local Bunnings this weekend while the Masters down the road has no car spaces available with traffic jam on the street waiting to get in. Last weekend Masters was also overflowing but it didn’t seem to have as much impact at the Bunning store.
Got a couple of shelving units at Masters last weekend. They were supposed to be 20% off but scanned at the register for less than half price. Very good deal.
I was at Melbourne Central today and noticed the boards had gone up on one of the empty stores on the ground floor, promoting the Kit Kat Chocolatory is coming. Late last year, the mall hosted the Kit Kat Studio for eight weeks.
JB Hi-Fi has confirmed it is acquiring whitegoods retailer The Good Guys for $870 million in a deal that will see the combined group leapfrog Harvey Norman in sales.
Seems like a good fit with complementary product lines.
Makes sense with JB’s recent expansion into the whitegoods / home appliances market.
Amazing we are down to a duopoly in electrical and whitegoods retail though.
Darwin is the only major capital city in Australia without a department store and will remain that way for the foreseeable future. Myer announced during its full year results today that it had scraped plans for a new store at the Top End. The store was first promised a few years ago after lobbying by the Northern Territory government and NT News. Myer also announced it would exit its Logan store in Brisbane, and reduce space at stores in Cairns, Blacktown and Castle Hill, in the 2017/18 financial year, but would kick off refurbishments and upgrades at Melbourne, Sydney, Maroochydore, Eastland, Doncaster, Chatswood and Pacific Fair stores this year.
