Chris Wilkinson: First Retail Group managing director on New Zealand’s largest Kmart opening today

New Zealand's largest Kmart has opened today, at Auckland's Westgate Town Centre.

The new store will be the retailer's first to debut the new Plan C+ format with checkouts at the front, and New Zealand's third 24-hour store after Sylvia Park and Manukau.

First Retail Group managing director Chris Wilkinson says this new store is unlikely to draw people away from Sylvia Park, as both outlets have their own selling points.

"The reality is, Sylvia Park has its own draw, it's got a lot of very unique retailers there - and at the end of the day, the Kmart product is the Kmart product." 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now, New Zealand's biggest Kmart has opened its doors today.
This is the first Kmart as well in the country
with the new design layout from the start. The big
change is that your checkout will no longer be in
the middle of the store, but instead closer to the entrance.
Chris Wilkinson is with First Retail Group and with us now. Hi, Chris.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Hey, how are you doing?

Speaker 1 (00:17):
I'm very well, thank you. I keep getting told that
you're fizzing for this. Are you?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
I'm fine. Yes, I'm fizzing. Absolutely. I love Kmart.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
Why do you love Kmart, Chris?

Speaker 2 (00:27):
Oh, look, I think Kmart's phenomenal. It's great to see
really just how they've captured consumers' imagination, how well they've
done on the world stage in a very tough market.
It's not my favourite store, but I just love what
they're doing and how they are innovating.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
Yeah, and I tell you what, I buy a lot
of Kmart stuff online for the kids. It's a really
easy-to-use system. They are doing well. Now, talk to me
about the layout. Does it not make absolute sense to
put the checkouts at the front rather than the middle?

Speaker 2 (00:59):
Yeah, it does. Around 10 years ago, they evolved to
that format where they dragged the checkouts to the middle.
It worked well at the time, but retail has evolved
since significantly.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
Why did it work well?

Speaker 2 (01:15):
It drew people further through into the store. So what
would happen is that people would make those sort of
point-to-point destinations before, but this encouraged them to dwell longer,
and that dwell time is a key aspect for retail.
Getting people to spend longer and engage with the product
in the store is really very, very important.

Speaker 1 (01:38):
Is having the checkouts in the middle, though, not basically...
opening up the chance that somebody buys a whole bunch
of stuff and then on their way out they're passing
some T-shirts and they get a little five-finger discount.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
That's exactly what's happening. And, you know, in the last
10 years since that shift happened, we've seen quite a
significant change in retail theft, but also antisocial behaviour that's
happening in retail, which we never used to see on
the level we're seeing now.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
Now, they are moving the beauty stuff to the front
of the store. Does that suggest that it's a big
selling item for them?

Speaker 2 (02:15):
Beauty is a key category item for many retailers because
it's the kind of product you go back to every month.
You don't necessarily need to go and buy a new
shirt or new cups or saucers every month, but beauty
is one of those things that has that regular and
habitual draw, which is why so many retailers want to

(02:37):
be part of it.

Speaker 1 (02:38):
Now, what do you make of the placement in Westgate?
Is this going to draw people away from Sylvia Park?

Speaker 2 (02:44):
No, I don't think so. The reality is Sylvia Park
has its own draw. It's got a lot of very
unique retailers that are there. At the end of the day,
the Kmart product is the Kmart product. It's the same
whether you're buying it in Ashburton or you're buying it
in Sylvia Park or Westgate. Interesting.

Speaker 1 (03:05):
Hey, thank you very much, Chris. I really appreciate your
time and enjoy visiting the Kmart when you get around
to it. That's Chris Wilkinson, First Retail Group Managing Director.