Kmart has earmarked 30 stores for New Zealand by 2020 as the discount retailer’s extensive bricks and mortar expansion continues across NZ and Australia.
The Wesfarmers-owned retail chain opened its first store in NZ in Henderson, Auckland in 1988 and now has 18 stores.
Guy Russo, MD of Kmart, told Inside Retail NZ it plans to open between two and three stores annually in NZ over the next five years, taking its total to 30.
“[Kmart New Zealand] is an amazing success story. We have a couple of brand new store openings planned every year from now until 2020,” Russo said.
The rollout is part of a greater expansion strategy by the retailer to hit a total of 250 stores across Australia and New Zealand over the next five years. New stores to open in NZ will be under Kmart’s new store design. The first to debut the new store format in NZ opened last year at its new Hamilton store.
To date, 38 stores across the entire Kmart network have been refitted with the new layout and this calendar year, 33 stores will be converted to the new look. Existing stores in NZ are expected to be converted over the next three years.
“We have 200 stores [in Australia] and our target is probably between 240 and 250. In New Zealand we will probably hit around the 30 mark,” Russo said.
“Every new store we opened has to have very good returns to it. It’s not about opening stores for the sake of it. Our focus on customers and shareholder return has been vigorous over the last five years and we want to continue that type of focus in the future,” Russo said.
