Kmart Australia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Kmart Australia | |
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| Type | Discount store |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1969 |
| Headquarters | Australia and New Zealand |
| Industry | Retail |
| Products | Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, garden accessories, stationery, consumables, toys, sporting goods, automotive accessories, hardware, electronics, and housewares. |
| Website | www.kmart.com.au (Australia) / www.kmart.co.nz (New Zealand) |
Kmart Australia is a discount department store chain, equivalent to the stores in the United States bearing the same name. When its first store opened in Burwood East, Victoria in April 1969, Kmart Australia was 51 percent owned by the US Kmart Corporation. The Burwood store opened to intense interest, with an estimated 40,000 people passing through the checkouts on the first day.
There are now 165 Kmart stores across Australia and New Zealand, currently owned by Coles Group Ltd.
Coles Group had planned for Kmart, along with Bi-Lo and the Coles Group liquor brands, to be merged into the Coles brand. The merger would have seen a variety of Coles stores with different purposes, including food, merchandise, petrol and liquor. The plan was for the first re-branded store to open in 2007, with 40 stores, mostly former 'Super K' stores divided last decade into separate Coles and Kmart stores, reformed into Coles Superstores. 20 stores would have been converted into Target stores, with the first being Kmart Bathurst in May 2007. However, in March 2007, Coles Group announced that the plans for these super centres were being deferred, pending the sale of all or part of Coles Group.[1]
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[edit] History
Kmart Australia Limited was born out of a joint venture between G.J Coles & Coy (Coles) and Kmart Corporation in the US.
In 1978 Coles acquired full control of the operation and in 1994 bought back all shares Kmart Corporation held in Coles.
A long-term licensing agreement allows Coles Group to use the Kmart name. Kmart New Zealand shares merchandise and branding with Kmart Australia, and is owned by Coles Group Holdings New Zealand.
[edit] Departments
Most stores have the following departments:
- Sound and Vision (Home Entertainment)
- Photographic
- Toys and Sporting
- Camping and Fishing
- Homewares (includes Kitchen and Appliances)
- Automotive
- Do It Yourself (Hardware and Paint)
- Gardening (includes Plants)
- Outdoor Living (includes Furniture)
- Stationery and Home Office
- Books (includes Greeting Cards and Party Goods)
- Confectionery
- Cosmetics (Health and Beauty)
- Womenswear
- Menswear
- Children and Infants
- Footwear
Stores also have a Seasonal or Promotional section which becomes Easter and Christmas sections at the respective times of the year, and also used for big sales like the July Toy Sale.
[edit] Kmart Derivations
[edit] Kmart Tyre and Auto Service
Specialises in automotive accessories, car servicing, tyres and checkups. Historically, these stores are usually (but not always) attached to a Kmart store. In early 2006 a large number of Shell Service Centres that are attached to Coles Express stores were converted to Kmart Tyre and Auto Service.
[edit] Girl Xpress
Specialises in clothing for young urban women. A concept standalone store selling Girl Xpress apparel opened in Victoria in 2006 outside the flagship Burwood East store.
[edit] Clearance Centre
Kmart opened its first Clearance Centre on November 30, 2006, situated in Ringwood, Victoria. The Clearance Centre operates the same way as normal Kmart Stores, however all merchandise is categorised as 'Clearance', and therefore sells for much less. This format is similar to Megamart, a chain Kmart's corporate parent Coles Group operated during the early 2000's.
[edit] Kmart Garden Super Centre
Specialised in garden, plants and garden furniture. Most of these stores were not attached to a Kmart store, but are standalone, big box stores in a warehouse format that sell Kmart manufactured or branded outdoor living items. Many lines were not available at standard Kmart stores. The Kmart Garden Super Centre in Campbellfield is the only store that was attached to an existing Kmart store.
The Kmart Garden Super Centres were a major organiser in the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show.
From circa 1999 to mid-2006 there were 4 Garden Super Centres in Victoria (Chadstone, Fountain Gate and Campbellfield and Watergardens), one in Queensland (Windsor) and one in NSW at Casula (The Crossroads). All except the Sydney store (which closed) and the Campbellfield store (which is the only remaining Garden Super Centre) were sold to Flower Power at this time.
The future of the remaining Campbellfield store is still yet unknown but is assumed to be folded into the new Coles SuperCentres
[edit] Super Kmart
Super Kmart was a hypermarket chain existing during the mid to late eighties. It sold all the same lines as a regular Kmart store, plus those sold by Coles Supermarkets. This format is very similar to those of the contemporary Pick 'n Pay Hypermarkets and the soon to be launched Coles SuperCentres.
[edit] Organisation
Kmart Stores are divided into four areas for management purposes:
- Entertainment and Leisure (includes the Home Entertainment and Photographic section)
- Home Living
- Apparel (includes Footwear and Cosmetics)
- Administration and Retail Services (includes layby, payroll and cash office)
Entertainment and Leisure and Home Living both come under the broader heading of General Merchandise.
In addition, larger stores have a customer service coordinator and a receiving dock coordinator who looks after the check outs/front end and the receiving bay respectively.
Non-management employees are employed under an enterprise bargaining agreement negotiated by the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association.
[edit] Services
- Customer Service Desk for refunds and returns.
- Lay-by
- Fitting Rooms
- Photo lab
- Customer Price Check Points
- Rainchecks
- Catalogue Specials (normally starts each Thursday)
- Delivery & Parcel Pickup
- Fly Buys
- Coles Myer Source MasterCard
[edit] Catalogue specials
Kmart catalogues generally start on Thursday, where all Kmart stores in Australia open at 8am. The catalogue usually lasts for one week, with the exception of special catalogues, such as the popular Toy Sale catalogue which lasts from two to three weeks. From time to time, Kmart will run promotions such as 20% off all clothing. Until mid 2006 Kmart also offered 15% off storewide promotions which generally lasted 2-3 days.
[edit] Photo lab
Most Kmart stores have an in store photo development lab maintained by Kodak and operated by a Kodak trained Kmart specialist. Subject to availability, stores can offer one hour film development at an extra surcharge, or a normal 24 hour (or 48 hour in some stores) service. Stores also have a digital photo processing lab which produces Kodak quality pictures to be picked up on the spot or to be collected later. A new feature of the digital processing lab is the online uploading feature, where customers can download a program and upload photos to be printed and collected at their closest Kmart store.
Depending where a store is located, prices of photos vary. There are 2 sets of prices, one lot about 15% cheaper then normal and stores where there is a lot of competition use the cheaper price set.
Some stores also run a PixiFoto studio.
[edit] FlyBuys
FlyBuys is Australia's leading customer loyalty program. At Kmart, customers accrue 2 points for every $5 they spend. The number of points collected can be increased with the use of the Coles Myer Source MasterCard or selected National Australia Bank credit cards.
[edit] Store credit cards
In 2000, the Kmart Card was launched as an in store credit card. This card was only accepted at Kmart stores, and was operated through GE Capital Finance. A few years later, the card was discontinued in favour of a Coles Myer Card, which could be used at any Coles Myer Store. In 2003, the Coles Myer Source MasterCard was launched, which allowed customers to use their card at any location which accepted MasterCard. The Coles Myer Source card was also linked to the Fly Buys program, where customers can accrue an addition 4 points per $5 spent on purchases made at Kmart paid for using the Source Card.
[edit] Payment
All major credit cards are accepted at Kmart with no surcharge, including Coles Myer Source card, Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Diners Club. Personal cheques are also accepted, as are government cheques with appropriate identification.
[edit] Kmart house brands
- Jackeroo (Outdoor furniture, garden, camping and BBQs)
- Living with Deborah Hutton (Kitchenware and manchester)
- Homemaker (Furniture, kitchenware and manchester)
- Now (Apparel)
- Girl Xpress (Apparel)
- World 4 Kids (Toys)
- Stockman Weekender (Camping)
- Magnavox, Audiosonic (Electrical)
- OfficeOne (Stationery)
- Performer (Paint)
- Just Basics (Various)
- Baby Solution (Child Safety)
Kmart is phasing out its popular 'The Price Brand' of discount products and introducing them all under the 'Just Basics' name. 'Just Copy Paper', Just A Chopping Board' and 'Just Office Calculator' are just a few examples of the new branding.
[edit] Kmart Radio
Kmart has its own instore radio, called Kmart Radio. It is broadcast into most stores via satellite (Optus B3), and can be heard as the hold music when you phone a store that has the radio installed. The program carries music, news updates and promotional-sales segments as well as commercials. The radio is provided by ARRN (Australasian Retail Radio Network).
