Woolworths Who’s the boss?
A bit of confusion down under, where as you know our own dear Woolworths acquired a substantial chunk of poorly-named retailer David Jones, for its own good. Woolies has appointed one Pierre de Wet, ostensibly to overhaul David Jones’ flailing food business, adding cafés, restaurants and coffee shops to existing food halls and, according to DJ, reporting harmlessly through to its CEO Ian Nairn. Now it appears that Woolies has greater food ambitions in Aus, ambitions which may include standalone food stores, with de Wet reporting to Woolies’ CEO and part-time Audi-driving bodyguard Ian “The Transporter” Moir. These stores, like their counterparts in SA, would compete in the premium sector of the Aussie market, where Woolworths (a coincidentally-names Aussie retailer) has a trading brand called Thomas Dux, and where a premium grocer known as Jones the Grocer operates.
Comment: Bit of a shake-up there, then. Couldn't happen to a nicer continent.