Myer Joins Narta Buying Power
Myer confirmed its move to Narta to ChannelNews today, in effect since 01 January, although no official announcement was made. Narta members already include JB Hi Fi, Bing Lee and David Jones, Myer’s high end department store rival. The move to Narta should help boost Myer’s appliance and CE offering and pricing after its electronics sales took a hammering, hit by price deflation and intense competition from online rivals, which forced it to cut back its offering over the past two years. At the time is said the freed up floor space would allow it deliver higher margin return goods. “Being part of Narta gives us greater access to stock and a broader range of products, delivers better availability of products, as well as providing access to special deals and offers, which ultimately brings greater benefits to our customers,” a Myer spokesperson told CN. “We have very strong relationships with our suppliers and this continues — there is no change to current arrangements with our suppliers.” The Narta buying group has over 32 members in Australia and 5 in New Zealand, and has a combined buying power of $3 billion, giving Myer access to major suppliers like HP, Breville, LG and Panasonic. Myer shares rose to 1.08% to $2.345 on the ASX today. The retailer announced a slight lift of 1 percent in sales to $688 million in its most recent quarter, Q1 2013. |