Not our homewares!
Although Kmart is now the go to for homewares, for some cheap clothes, and for a bumble bee pet outfit, there was a time where Kmart could have ceased to exist.
No! Say it isn’t so!
A decade ago, Kmart was struggling to stay afloat over Big W and Target. The store was considered the runt of the litter. In fact, the super store was doing so badly, they debated binning the ‘Kmart’ brand and switching it to Coles.
Yep – if they had proceeded with the strategy suggested by then Coles chief executive John Fletcher the name would have been changed to “Coles Supercentre” in order to create a cohesive brand with Coles and Coles Express.
Thar’s right – we could be heading into a Coles Supercentre to pick up a $3 facemask and a cat shaped candle on a Saturday morning.
So, why didn’t it take place?
Well, just a few months later, Wesfarmers took control of the Coles Group. All bets were off for the Coles Supercentre, and the new owners decided to stick with the Kmart brand – probably one of the wisest business decisions ever made.
Now, we’re going to go browse the Kmart homewares section for half an hour even though we don’t need anything.
Words by Kate Stevens
Image: Getty
