RETAILER RINGS CHANGES
Woolworths has a mountain to climb to ditch old-fashioned model
Woolworths, which has parted ways with its Australia CEO and written down the value of its business there by nearly R7bn, still has a monumental task ahead if it is to stop the bleeding at department store chain David Jones, analysts say. Four months after it wrote down the value of David Jones by A$713m (R6.8bn), Woolworths said this week it had dismissed its CEO in that country, John Dixon, to cut costs. Dixon, a former Marks & Spencer executive, was Woolworths’s regional head for less than a year. His departure comes months after Woolworths impaired the value of David Jones because of "the cyclical downturn and structural changes" affecting Australia’s retail sector, and "poor or delayed execution" on key projects. But it plans to continue investing in the business, which it bought for more than R20bn in 2014. David Jones is adding food halls to its stores, and plans to spend almost A$200m on refurbishing its flagship store in Sydney, using funds from the sale of another outlet. ...
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