{"id":157410,"date":"2025-11-28T03:47:04","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T03:47:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/157410\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T03:47:04","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T03:47:04","slug":"the-warehouse-albany-and-silverdale-could-be-first-in-line-for-store-revamp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/157410\/","title":{"rendered":"The Warehouse Albany and Silverdale could be first in line for store revamp"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stirton said the business\u2019s Albany store already benefited from white floors, which he previously said could become the norm, offering a particularly good launchpad to test other changes.<\/p>\n

The two stores were also conducive to customer feedback, which would be a key driver of any decision-making.<\/p>\n

\"MarkMark Stirton says updates on the business’s refreshed strategy would come later on in the financial year.<\/p>\n

Shareholder feedback<\/p>\n

Shareholders had plenty to say about the company\u2019s performance over the prior year, sharing concerns about the comparative performance of Briscoe Group and Kmart, as well as the threat of incoming Ikea.<\/p>\n

Stirton said the team had completed several reviews of Ikea\u2019s impact, and confirmed the business had looked at Ikea\u2019s product categories to determine where they could challenge their price points.<\/p>\n

The issue of The Warehouse\u2019s grocery offering once again was raised, with Stirton confirming that the business is \u201clooking at grocery again, seriously\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s about 27% of our business at the moment, so it is an important category. It\u2019s probably the fastest-growing, but we\u2019re not native grocers. Part of it is that we\u2019re learning how to be a grocer.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the business was reviewing the category, but couldn\u2019t make any public comments on it yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a difficult subject because I know how sensitive it is for everyone. Everyone wants the duopoly to go down and for us to win, but there\u2019s also things that we\u2019ve got to strengthen and be good at in order to effectively win and compete.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two questions from shareholders also brought attention to products related to the United States and Israel and their involvement in the ongoing conflict in Gaza, namely SodaStream, which is manufactured in Israel. Several protesters were outside the annual meeting protesting the conflict.<\/p>\n

Withers said that all of the business\u2019s suppliers were required to meet its ethical sourcing policy, and that it had received those assurances from its SodaStream supplier, PepsiCo.<\/p>\n

Gross margins and the pressure they face were raised by several shareholders, with one questioning how long it would take the business to have a net profit margin above zero.<\/p>\n

Stirton said he would like it to be north of 3% of revenue, but couldn\u2019t give any expectation as to when this would be achievable.<\/p>\n

Part of the challenge, according to Stirton, was the ongoing promotional environment that all retailers were facing, with a change in consumer habits partially to blame.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re doing everything we can. We are seeing a level of buoyancy in the consumer coming back, but it\u2019s been really tough. I think we\u2019ve also trained the consumer to hunt for a discount all the time, and so that\u2019s also making things more difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another shareholder sought reaction to the business\u2019s removal from the New Zealand Stock Exchange\u2019s NZX50 index, with Stirton confirming his intention to get it back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to be top 40, top 30, but we\u2019ve got to walk before we run a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also shared his frustration with how the business is valued by the NZX, believing the group\u2019s brands and its freehold property aren\u2019t correctly valued to what they are worth.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs soon as the market starts to see signs that our margin recovery is there and we can stop making some of the mistakes in our cost of doing business, our share price should follow that trend.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JoanJoan Withers has officially retired from The Warehouse Group’s board of directors after nearly a decade in charge. Photo \/ Dean Purcell<\/p>\n

Chair farewell<\/p>\n

The meeting also marked the final time as board chairwoman for Dame Joan Withers, who finished her term after nearly a decade in charge.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the past nine years, I\u2019ve had the privilege of leading this iconic New Zealand business through periods of growth and through some of the most challenging times in our history,\u201d Withers said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe past few years have been particularly difficult, and I want to acknowledge the impact on our shareholders. The company\u2019s performance has weighed heavily on the board and on me personally.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said she was proud of the resilience the company had shown despite the challenges, and, while the company was not where it needs to be, the team\u2019s strong leadership had a renewed determination.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo our shareholders, our customers, and our team members, and, of course, my fellow directors, thank you. Your support and commitment have meant a great deal to me, and it\u2019s been an honour to serve as chair.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.<\/p>\n

Stay ahead with the latest market moves, corporate updates, and economic insights by subscribing to our Business newsletter<\/a> \u2013 your essential weekly round-up of all the business news you need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stirton said the business\u2019s Albany store already benefited from white floors, which he previously said could become the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":157411,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[3225,41009,95,4765,5195,138,3937,49063,124,3938,1888,2082,6637,78,84184,15220,32573,2374,111,139,69,104095,30203,104094,104097,2735,653,223,1865,42913,1803,18840,104096],"class_list":["post-157410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-according","tag-albany","tag-and","tag-annual","tag-be","tag-business","tag-chief","tag-companys","tag-could","tag-executive","tag-first","tag-for","tag-gave","tag-in","tag-interior","tag-line","tag-mark","tag-meeting","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-revamp","tag-shareholders","tag-silverdale","tag-stirton","tag-store","tag-stores","tag-the","tag-today","tag-undergo","tag-update","tag-warehouse","tag-warehouses"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157410\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}