As the battle between JB Hi Fi and Officeworks heats up the Managing Director of the big Wesfarmers owned retailers has decided to quit.

Wesfarmers management yesterday announced that Melbourne based Sarah Hunter is stepping down.

The new MD is set to be John Gualtieri, who is currently MD of Kmart and Target, he will step into the new role in August, whether he will continue the battle with JB Hi Fi is at this stage unknown.

Sarah Hunter the MD of Officeworks seen during a confrontation when a Jewish man was refused service by a staff member who sympathised with the taking of Jewish Hostages in Israel.

Management have not said why the Melbourne based Hunter is stepping down or whether it’s because of the hostility with JB Hi Fi as Officeworks after Hunter recently announced that the retailer that is being beaten on price by JB Hi Fi moved to invest in new categories currently dominated by JB Hi Fi including an expansion of their mobile phone and PC offering.

Recently we revealed that JB Hi Fi is selling several products including smartphones and printer inks significantly cheaper than the Wesfarmer owned business.

Gualtieri, who, as chief executive of Kmart and Target, currently reports to the new managing director of Kmart Group, Aleksandra Spaseska.

Gualtieri joined Kmart in 2008 as the divisional merchandise manager for the Home division and has held several senior roles in the business.

During her time at the Company Officeworks Hunter had to apologise to the Jewish community over an incident in which a visibly Jewish man was refused service at one of their Melbourne stores.

The incident saw a staff member sympathetic to the kidnapping of Jewish hostages decline a request to laminate an article in the Australian Jewish News because she was “pro-Palestine”.

The Jewish man rejected the apology, saying he was still going ahead with action against the company at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT).

Wesfarmers Managing Director Rob Scott said “For more than six years, Sarah has played a pivotal role in driving Officeworks’ evolution and growth. Under her leadership, Officeworks has continued to grow and diversify the customer offer.

He claimed that since 2019, Officeworks we have grown revenue by over 8 per cent per annum and made good progress on their strategic agenda.

Officeworks who has recently moved to expand into categories that are successful recently announced revenue growth of 4.7% to $1,760m, with management claiming that technology was a key contributor to their overall growth.

Recently the business has been negotiating with PC and accessory Companies in an effort to expand their line items in what was described as an effort to strip customers away from Harvey Norman and JB Hi Fi.