WHS - Warehouse Group

[whatsup]

WHS Red Shed stores are just depressing......

Dunedin KMart closed due to semismic risk a few years ago. About to reopen in South D. But an indication of the pull of KMart (and how bad the WHS is) is that companies have been organizing shopping trips to KMart Invercargill.

https://thespinoff.co.nz/business/30...rcargill-kmart

Old news, but a sad inditement on a few levels, but pretty sad for the Warehouse.

Not KMart and only a WHS where I live - been in the Red Shed once and actively avoid the place.

The market is doing to the WHS what the WHS did to the Moms and Pops stores all around N Z all those years ago, now Mr T you know how it feels !!!

[samjaynz]

That is completely my experience too. Hit & miss for service instore, but online & call centre is rubbish. Buy things and then out of stock - latest one was using a voucher to buy and refunded but now can only spend online.

Thanks for sharing Samjay - very interesting and no doubt you've moved on to greener pastures....

Certainly greener pastures now, but I look back very fondly on my time there (well most of it - the last few months before I left/T7 group was restructured with the sub-brands being rolled into the T7 stores was fairly miserable as most of us sensed what was coming; I was just fortunate to get out before the boat really started capsizing).

If I think about the issues that were present during my time, many of them did seem to go back to the fundamental issue that upper-level Warehouse Group management was "detached" from the reality of what the customers of younger, fresher brands like T7, 1-Day, No1 Fitness and Shotgun Supplements (all under the T7 group) wanted, as well as having merchandisers who just didn't "get it".

Take 1-Day, for example. In its heyday 1-Day was very popular because it offered a tiny number of genuinely good deals each day. Once the stock was gone it was gone. The 'OG" 1-Day team understood this. However, over time it became a dumping ground for group crap that the other brands couldn't sell, with barely any good deals (the only ones worth buying were the 'diamond deals'). This is because upper management just thought they could sell any old garbage and people would buy it because of the time-limited novelty.

No1 Fitness, which was once again a good little business in its heyday, tried to branch out into selling branded apparel from Nike, Adidas etc because the merchandisers were able to source some cheap product. Management thought this was a great idea. The only issue? It was last season's stuff (in fact older than that). Because NZ doesn't have a huge population of East European 'Adidasky' tracksuit wearers, hundreds of thousands of dollars of stock wound up languishing in the warehouses until we wound up giving it away for free with the purchase of fitness equipment - even then I recall customers literally saying they didn't want it.

Shotgun Supplements, there was an obsession with trying to get into selling home branded supplements (which did carry hugely superior margin) but that's not what customers wanted - they wanted the 'name brand' supplements, and where the opportunities were was to then upsell/cross-sell the order e.g. customer buys a protein powder with about 5% margin on it but then you sell them the pre-workout with a very healthy margin and it all balances out.

I learned a lot, which was a good thing.

[winner69]

Wonder how half year to January

No update

Must have been a good un’

Solid sales, good margins and expenses under control = good result (normalised / adjusted that is)

[Panda-NZ-]

It was last season's stuff (in fact older than that). Because NZ doesn't have a huge population of East European 'Adidasky' tracksuit wearers, hundreds of thousands of dollars of stock wound up languishing in the warehouses until we wound up giving it away for free with the purchase of fitness equipment - even then I recall customers literally saying they didn't want it.

Hehe. I do notice that Kmart has "fashion sense" and actually pays attention to trends. WHS can't compete there.

[mike2020]

Obviously has to be a buy since we now have twr sky and atm as market darlings. While hgh pgw all the rv stocks are ready to be euthanized. Its like a worm hole to an alternative reality opened up.

[nztx]

Is this a bargain yet ?

Has St Stephen introduced the Singer & Piano player for the Bargain Basement Showstopper ?

[winner69]

Worldliness sales data suggests WHS could have had bad start to new year F25



But spending was down in electronics/computer stores (-16.4%), department stores (-26.1%), clothing shops (-1.5%), furniture outlets (-6.0%), appliance stores (-9.3%) and wholesale/retail hardware merchants (-0.6%), Worldline said..

https://businessdesk.co.nz/article/r...m_medium=email

[bull....]

pretty grim half yr report but the shocker is the start to second half

wow feb sales down double digits

[Filthy]

yet still paying a divie. crazy. at least KMD had more sense.

[Sideshow Bob]

https://www.nzx.com/announcements/428233

The Warehouse Group simplifies further to focus on core brands
• Total Group continuing sales1 $1.633 billion in FY24 H1, down 4.9% compared to FY23 H1
o The Warehouse sales were $965.6 million, down 4.7%
o Warehouse Stationery sales were $117.9 million, down 5%
o Noel Leeming sales were $544.4 million, down 2.2%• Gross Profit $559.7 million, down 0.4%
• Gross Profit Margin increased 160 basis points to 34.3%
• The Warehouse Gross Profit increased 1.6% to $374.3 million, with Gross Profit Margin up 250basis points to 38.8%
• Continuing Adjusted Net Profit After Tax (NPAT) for the period from continuing operationsincreased 18.9% to $30.7 million
• Total Group Reported Net Loss after Tax, including the impairment of Torpedo7 assets andrestructuring costs, of $23.7 million
• Net Debt of $18.7 million, significantly down from $83.4 million at FY23 H1, with availableliquidity of $471.3 million
• FY24 Interim Dividend declared 5.0 cents per share.