By James Wells
SYDNEY: Publicly-listed Narta member Clive Peeters has announced it has acquired the retail space previously occupied by a Joyce Mayne store within the Westfield Shopping Centre at Mt Druitt in Sydney’s west and will open its fourth store in mid-December.
In a statement issued to the Australian stock exchange this morning, Clive Peeters said it has acquired the business conducted by Hartrez Pty Ltd which will be effective 22 October.
“The store acquired has traded as Joyce Mayne and is located within the recently expanded and refurbished Westfield Shopping Centre Complex at Mt Druitt," the statement said.
This acquisition is sixth by Clive Peeters, resulting in a total of 21 stores in just over 12 months, following the acquisition of the Rick Hart Group in Western Australia, the Michael King store in Melbourne, the Mornington Bulk store, three Megamart stores located at Auburn, Casula and another in Perth as well as three Victorian Betta Electrical stores. The third Sydney store will be located at Belrose on the lower north shore of Sydney.
According to Clive Peeters managing director, Greg Smith, the Joyce Mayne store identification will be removed and the new store will commence trading a week or two before Christmas.
“This is a very strategic acquisition for us, being our fourth Sydney store, which gives us a strong metropolitan base, achieved in just six months,” Smith said in the statement.
“The fourth store improves the leveraging of our advertising and warehouse costs in Sydney, which together account for most of our high cost of entry into the New South Wales market.
“We have quickly established a strong launching pad in New South Wales – the biggest market in Australia. We are actively looking for more stores in Sydny as we target a 12 store network in Sydney with up to a further eight in regional
New South Wales. This may take us some years to achieve but we are now well on our way.”