Myer starts well

Press, 5 December 1983, Page 33

Myer starts well

PA Melbourne Every major trading operation of Myer Emporium, Ltd, has traded profitably in the first quarter of the current year, with sales and profits well in excess of budget, the chairman (Mr S. B. Myer) said at the annual meeting. “We expect strong Christmas trading and a significant and sustained improvement in operating results in 1984,” he said.

Myer stores has appointed a new national management team and the implementa-

tion of a national structure will move into its final stages on 1984. Vital to the new strategy is more aggressive marketing and competitive pricing, Mr Myer said. New technology and information systems have given the enlarged Myer group a competitive advantage, and the group had recently sold specialised merchandising software which it had to develop to retailers in the U.S., Myer said.

Myer was well-positioned to take advantage of developments and trends in com-

puters and communications, Mr Myer said. The Grace Bros management team had now completed its integration of 11 former Myer New South Wales stores into the Grace Bros business now merged with Myer. There was now evidence that governments were beginning to take notice of the public’s need for more convenient shopping hours, Mr Myer said. Of the 20 leading industrial nations, 17 allowed Saturday afternoon shopping, including Britain and the U.S.