Harvey Norman has revved up its global expansion with its first store opening in England later this year.
Speaking to Appliance Retailer, Harvey Norman chairman, Gerry Harvey said it will be the first of three new stores planned for the UK. “The idea 25 years ago was that we would go to Ireland, Scotland and then to England…but we have since decided we had a better deal and have landed in England over Scotland. Ultimately the plan is to have three stores in West Midlands as soon as possible, and one is already signed up for October, but there are no confirmed dates for the others.”
Harvey said the retailer has received great support from the local mayor and councils for the Merry Hill site in Dudley, which will create around 100 new jobs for the area.
And the store layout will be no different to any other Harvey Norman store.
He said a lot of the big department stores in the UK got into trouble as rents went through the roof, and many businesses went online. “Our strategy is to turn that around, but the challenge will be as to how much online you can bring back into the shop?
“The evidence we have globally is that online business is nowhere near as big as people talk about.”
He said in Australia, only 6% of fridges are sold online, but 3% of customers had been into the store and then purchased online. So only 3% are purely online, although he said data from the UK for online shopping is “huge by comparison”.
He continued: “In all eight countries we are in, the response was the same. There is a belief out there that is totally wrong. Interestingly most people estimated online shopping for fridges was between 40% and 50%.
“Harvey Norman is probably one of the biggest online players but as a percentage of our total business, it is not very big at all which is contrary to what consumers believe.”
More store openings are scheduled for 2024 with another 5 to 10 stores in Malaysia, adding to the 300 stores globally. “There may be odd ones opening elsewhere but most will be in Malaysia.”
Locally, business is better than expected. “It’s hard to predict what will happen in the next few months but at the moment sales are going well across the board which is quite pleasing and surprising.”