Articore has reported its third-quarter marketplace revenue fell 12 per cent year on year to $78.1 million amid a short-term disruption due to changes in the company’s paid marketing strategy. The company – which owns Redbubble and TeePublic online marketplaces – reported gross profit up 4 per cent to $34.8 million and gross margin rose to 44.6 per cent. “Driving profitable revenue growth for the group remains our primary objective going forward,” said Martin Hosking, Articore CEO and MD. “This quarter, the Redbubble marketplace implemented significant changes to its paid marketing strategy to ..read more

Mirvac has partnered with Tafe NSW for the upskilling of the investment company’s partner retailers, through a customised Certificate III in Retail training course. Tafe NSW said that retail trade is Australia’s second-largest employing industry, hiring 1 million people. However, the vocational education provider noted that many retail workers lack the skills needed to drive sales. Labour Market Insights data shows that around 61 per cent of retail trade workers do not have post-school qualifications. “We approached Tafe NSW after first-hand experience with their courses via one of our own tea ..read more

French luxury fashion group Kering has anticipated a decline of up to 45 per cent in operating income for the first half of this year after reporting a 10 per cent drop in revenue in the first quarter. The company logged €4.5 billion (US$4.8 billion) in sales for the three months.  “Kering’s performance worsened considerably in the first quarter,” said François-Henri Pinault, chairman and CEO of Kering Group. “While we had anticipated a challenging start to the year, sluggish market conditions, notably in China, and the strategic repositioning of certain of our Houses, starting with Gucci ..read more

Coco Republic will collaborate with online lifestyle retailer Revolve to produce a collection of decorative items, to expand its audience to millennial and Gen Z consumers in the US.  Coco Republic made their debut at the Revolve Festival 2024 in Palm Springs, California, as the official furniture partner displaying its outdoor range. The joint ‘The Art Of House’ collection, which will be launched next month, promotes the styling of design objects and accessories “to provide colour and texture to any house”. The collection includes a wide range of interior settings, including furniture, r ..read more

Legacy denim brand, Levi Strauss & Co has rolled out a direct-to-consumer first strategy across its East Pacific Asia market. The pivot away from Levi’s historically successful wholesale model was first introduced with the arrival of new president and CEO Michelle Gass who has her sights set on taking the brand to new heights. Levi’s consider itself a steward of denim and in particular the blue jean – now the iconic brand is taking control of growth by coming back to bricks-and-mortar. Inside Retail sat down with Nuholt Huisamen, managing director of Levi Strauss & Co for East Asia Pac ..read more

Coles has the most confusing promotional labels, consumer advocacy group Choice said as it calls for supermarkets to make their tags clear and easy to understand for shoppers. Choice found in a survey that Coles’ ‘Down Down’ and ‘While Stocks Last’ labels confused shoppers as to whether the item was marked down or not. Meanwhile, shoppers are also confused on Woolworths’ ‘Prices Dropped’ label, unsure if the product was already discounted. Choice, however, noted that the price had already dropped – way back 2019. “The current promotion was for a discount that was applied about five years earli ..read more

Brazilian restaurant chain Oakberry entered the Australian market in 2018 after ANZ CEO Renan Fretes-Pinto identified a gap in the market for healthy fast food. Today, there are more than 50 franchise locations and 500 head-office staff across Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands and Indonesia, and there are plans to open 30 more new shops in Australia alone this year. The brand’s latest shop just opened in Sydney’s Surry Hills in April.  Fretes-Pinto, who is also the founder of the popular Bar Copo and smoothie bar Smoov Australia in Bondi Beach, told Inside Retail, “Australian pe ..read more

Furniture retailer Nick Scali is entering the UK market through acquiring Anglia Home Furnishings, trading as Fabb Furniture, for £3.5 million ($6.7 million). Nick Scali intends to pay $1 million to exercise the option to exit the existing distribution centre arrangement and inject up to $11.5 million of working capital. After the acquisition, Nick Scali said it plans to invest in the existing Fabb Furniture network, which will include store refurbishments and rebranding, setting up a new distribution centre, and opening new stores. The rebranded and refurbished store network will transition t ..read more

The APPMA Packaging Design Innovation Award is a prestigious prize given in recognition of achievement in the Australian packaging and processing industry. The award celebrates innovation, leadership, and best practices on the part of the winner, as well as the outstanding design elements that they have introduced in their packaging.  Ranpak is proud to have sponsored the 2024 APPMA Packaging Design Innovation Award. We extend our congratulations to this year’s winner, Detpak, for its remarkable Kerbside Recyclable Paper Bag designed for fresh potatoes. Ranpak is especially proud to shar ..read more

Reporting by the business media of retail sales and other economic data produced by governments in developing Asia is often too trusting. The official numbers are usually reported unquestioningly, yet they can be deeply flawed for a number of reasons. Occasionally it is worth reminding ourselves that they need to be taken with a pinch of salt, sometimes a handful of it.  With respect to China, there have long been doubts over the quality of economic data coming out of the National Statistics Office (NSO), so it’s wise not to get too excited about the retail sales numbers released on April ..read more