Despite the fact that Myer was the neglected child in the former Coles Myer stable, many initiatives the current Myer leadership likes to crow about were actually launched in the dying years of Coles Myer ownership. The immensely successful Myer One loyalty program, which now accounts for more than 70% of all sales, the stronger-performing private labels Basque, Blaq and Vue, the template for the current store upgrade program, which was based on a remodelled Myer Chadstone, and even the “Myer is My Store” marketing tagline were all conceived under the often criticised reign of former managing director Dawn Robertson. It’s telling that there has been no significant reinvention of marketing or brand positioning in eight years. In fact, probably the biggest change Myer has made to its marketing is to move from all red in its Stocktake Sale advertising to a multi-coloured scheme for catalogues, newspaper ads and in-store visual marketing. Not that the change has worked: the once mighty Stocktake Sale, when people queued overnight and lined up in their thousands, is now just another ho-hum sale on a very crowded calendar of sales and heavy discounting.
In the past eight years, there have been plenty of missteps. Buying and rebranding four Harris Scarfe stores to drive growth and then closing two of them. The ill-fated merger of equals with David Jones — which effectively kicked off the process in which Myer’s major competitor was swallowed by Woolworths — was a mess and now poses a significant set of new challenges for Myer.
Brookes’ inability to establish a clear successor is a glaring and ongoing issue, made worse by losing many potential successors to other brands, including former stores head Nick Abboud to Dick Smith, former merchandise head Penny Winn back to Woolworths and even the recent departure of Megan Foster, who had a succession of high-profile roles but who left the business in August this year. No announcement about her departure was made to the ASX, because she was not considered by the company to be key management personnel anymore, much to the shock of many Myer watchers who were expecting her to emerge as a potential successor to her boss. And then there was the Andrew Flannigan recruitment debacle, the new leadership appointee who faked his CV and convinced his new boss of his bona fides despite having little or no retail experience, who lasted less than one day. Makes you wonder what they talked about in his interviews. Brookes has lost most of the names touted as possible successors over the years, and his recent hires have brought in good skills but few retailers, which is a significant issue given the calibre of people David Jones’ new owners are bringing in.
Myer can be saved and can succeed. More than anything, it means new leadership. Given the clearly evident turn in market sentiment after the last result, the never-ending litany of excuses and blame and the general lack of direction or a realistic plan for the future, that’s probably on the cards.
This story originally appeared on Crikey.
