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Kmart Australia is a discount department store chain, equivalent to the stores in the United States bearing the same name. When its first store opened in Burwood, Victoria (Australia) in April 1969, Kmart Australia was 51 percent owned by the US Kmart Corporation. The Burwood store opened to intense interest, with an estimated 40,000 people passing through the checkouts on the first day. This store was the first drive in shopping centre to be built in Australia. There are now 186 Kmart stores across Australia and New Zealand, currently owned by Coles Myer Ltd. Subject to shareholder approval in November 2006 Kmart, along with Bi-Lo and the Coles Myer liquor brands, is set to be merged into the iconic Coles brand. The merger will see a variety of Coles stores with different purposes, including food, merchandise, petrol and liquor. Starting from September 2007 around 40 stores, mostly former 'Super K' stores, which were divided last decade into separate Coles and Kmart stores, will be reformed into Coles Superstores. At least 20 other stores will be converted to Target stores with the remainder to become Coles General Merchandise stores.
History Kmart Australia Limited was born out of a joint venture between G.J Coles & Coy (Coles) and Kmart Corporation in the US. In 1978 Coles (Later Coles Myer) acquired full control of the operation and in 1994 bought back all shares Kmart Corporation held in Coles. A long-term licensing agreement allows Coles Myer to use the Kmart name. Kmart New Zealand shares merchandise and branding with Kmart Australia, and is owned by Coles Myer Holdings New Zealand. Departments Most stores have the following departments: Stores also have a Seasonal or Promotional section which becomes Easter and Christmas sections at the respective times of the year, and also used for big sales like the July Toy Sale. Standalone businesses under the Kmart banner Specialises in automotive accessories, car servicing, tyres and checkups. Historically, these stores are usually (but not always) attached to a Kmart store. In early 2006 a large number of Shell Service Centre's that are attachted to Coles Express stores were converted to Kmart Tyre and Auto Service. Specialies in garden, plants and outdoor furniture. These stores are not attached to a Kmart store, but are standalone, big box stores in a warehouse format that sell Kmart manufactured or branded outdoor living items. Kmart Garden stores sell a range of outdoor items sold in a normal Kmart store, along with bulky outdoor furniture that is sold exclusively through the Kmart Garden Supercentre. There are currently four Kmart Garden Supercentres in Victoria (Chadstone, Fountain Gate and Campbellfield and Watergardens) and one in Queensland (Windsor). A Kmart Garden Supercentre opened in NSW in 2002 at Casula (The Crossroads) but closed early 2006 due to lack of business. The rest of the Garden Supercentres have been sold, with the sale still awaiting approval. Specialises in clothing for young urban women. A concept standalone store selling Girl Xpress apparel opened in Victoria in 2006 outside the flagship Burwood East store. Organisation Kmart Stores are divided into four areas for management purposes: Entertainment and Leisure and Home Living both come under the broader heading of General Merchandise. In addition, larger stores have a customer service coordinator and a receiving dock coordinator who looks after the check outs/front end and the receiving bay respectively. The difference between a coordinator and a manager is that a customer service or receiving dock coordinator tends not to have gone through the manager in training program, and cannot be transferred between stores, however they enjoy the same privileges in store, such as being given store keys and alarm codes, whilst being on slightly lesser pay. Non-management employees are employed under an enterprise bargaining agreement negotiated by the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association. Services Catalogue specials Kmart catalogues generally start on Thursday, where all Kmart stores in Australia open at 8am. The catalogue usually lasts for one week, with the exception of special catalogues, such as the popular Toy Sale catalogue which lasts from two to three weeks. From time to time, Kmart will run promotions such as 20% off all clothing or 15% off storewide (which usually only run for 2 or 3 days) Layby terms and conditions The layby service is a popular feature at Kmart which allows customers to set aside goods and pay off the outstanding balance over a period of time. The layby service fee, as of June 2006, is $2.50, which is added to the total amount of the layby. A normal layby requires a 10% deposit and lasts for 8 weeks. During the length of the layby, regular payments must be made every 2 weeks. Payments can be made at any checkout within the store which the layby was started, provided the customer has their receipt. If the customer has faulted on their layby (i.e. has not made regular payments or the layby is past the due date), then the layby will be cancelled and an amount of $10.50 will be retained from the deposit. If the customer requests for the layby to be cancelled before they have faulted on their layby, then the amount deducted is $2.50 Due to the limited storage space in most Kmart layby departments, some laybys may be sent to an offsite warehouse for storage. These items require 5 working days notice before customers are either able to pick up the items from the collection facility or the items are delivered back to the store, depending on which store the customer laybys with. Photo lab Most Kmart stores have an in store photo development lab maintained by Kodak and operated by a Kodak trained Kmart specialist. Subject to availability, stores can offer one hour film development at an extra surcharge, or a normal 24 hour (or 48 hour in some stores) service. Stores also have a digital photo processing lab which produces Kodak quality pictures to be picked up on the spot or to be collected later. A new feature of the digital processing lab is the online uploading feature, where customers can download a program and upload photos to be printed and collected at their closest Kmart store. Depending where a store is located, prices of photos vary. There are 2 sets of prices, one lot about 15% cheaper then normal and stores where there is a lot of competition use the cheaper price set. Some stores also run a PixiFoto studio. FlyBuys FlyBuys is Australia's leading customer loyalty program. At Kmart, customers accrue 2 points for every $5 they spend. The number of points collected can be increased with the use of the Coles Myer Source MasterCard or selected National Australia Bank credit cards. Store credit cards In 2000, the Kmart Card was launched as an in store credit card. This card was only accepted at Kmart stores, and was operated through GE Capital Finance. A few years later, the card was discontinued in favour of a Coles Myer Card, which could be used at any Coles Myer Store. In 2003, the Coles Myer Source MasterCard was launched, which allowed customers to use their card at any location which accepted MasterCard. The Coles Myer Source card was also linked to the Fly Buys program, where customers can accrue an addition 4 points per $5 spent on purchases made at Kmart paid for using the Source Card. Payment All major credit cards are accepted at Kmart with no surcharge, including Coles Myer Source card, Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Diners Club. Personal cheques are also accepted, as are government cheques with appropriate identification. Kmart house brands Previous logos Image:Kmart logo old.PNG|Kmart Australia logo since 1980 until 1991. Image:Kmart.gif|Logo used 1991 until 2006. Kmart Radio Kmart has its own instore radio, called Kmart Radio. It is broadcast into most stores via satellite (Optus B3), and can be heard as the hold music when you phone a store that has the radio installed. The program carries music, news updates and promotional-sales segments as well as commercials. The radio is provided by ARRN (Australasian Retail Radio Network). More info: http://www.retailradio.com.au/kmart.htm See also | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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