Myer has struck a deal to buy Premier Investment's clothing division Apparel Brands. The purchase will give the department store ownership of Just Jeans, Jay Jays, Portmans, Dotti and Jacqui E, while Premier will retain Smiggle and Peter Alexander.
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00:00Many people know Meijer for its perfume counters and its long history in Australia.
00:10Familiar landmark, Meijer's of Melbourne is one of the big six in world retailing.
00:15However these days the retailer has been struggling with its profit margins
00:21and younger Australians like Shea and Delora are shopping online instead.
00:27There's not a lot of range, I don't think that I'm their target market.
00:32Now Meijer is betting its future on a merger.
00:36This is about ensuring that Meijer which is 125 years old can continue to be a sustainable business.
00:42The deal would see Meijer buy up five retail chains including Just Jeans, Dottie and Portmans.
00:48All of these are brands that are currently owned by Solomon Lu's Premier Investments.
00:54I'm personally very excited by this transaction and will be joining the board of Meijer
00:59as well as remaining its chairman of Premier Investments.
01:03The deal is worth almost one billion dollars.
01:07It still needs sign off from the consumer watchdog and shareholders.
01:11We're going to vote for the merger, we believe that the merger is transformational.
01:16This retail analyst says the deal is a dud.
01:20Trying to bridge the gap from 13 or 12 up to 80 is problematic.
01:25What I would do is I'd rebrand Meijer.
01:28Meijer's pushing ahead with this merger at the same time that another Australian legacy retailer has collapsed.
01:35The owner of Rivers, Noni B and Katie's just entered voluntary administration
01:41which is putting 3,000 jobs at risk.
01:44I think it's dead and buried.
01:46I'd be surprised if someone tried to resurrect it.
01:49Tough times for retail prompting Meijer mergers.