Car dealers in Western Australia will be hoping for a pickup this year, after the release of data showing a 7.9 per cent fall in new car sales in 2015 in WA, while the rest of the nation reported its best year on record.
Aldi remains on track to open its first Western Australian supermarkets by the middle of the year, ramping up its recruitment drive while construction is under way on 14 stores.
The consumer watchdog has decided not to approve GPC Asia Pacific’s proposed $43 million acquisition of Automotive Holdings Group’s Covs Parts business on the grounds that it would substantially lessen competition.
Window blinds manufacturer and retailer Kresta Holdings has been provided with a CNY50 million ($A10.6 million) loan by its Chinese parent company to pay off an existing facility and expand its east coast manufacturing operations.
The recent approval for an estimated $450 million expansion of Westfield Whitford City has added to a long line of shopping centre redevelopments proposed in Perth, although ongoing economic uncertainty is casting doubt on how many will actually go ahead.
Motor vehicles sales in Western Australia for the year to November are down 8.5 per cent on the same period last year, with sports utility vehicles the only part of the market that held up.
The opening of Furniture Gallery’s third store in Osborne Park in late October capped a busy 18 months for two sisters behind the rapidly growing new entrant to Perth’s interior retail scene.
Investors have welcomed news that Perth-based confectionery company Yowie Group has signed a licensing agreement with the firm behind the popular Angry Birds franchise, to manufacture an Angry Birds-themed candy for the US market.
Western Australia’s oldest family-owned business has won a contract to provide local inbound freight transport services for German supermarket chain Aldi, which is planning to open its first Perth stores next year.
Wesfarmers' incoming chairman Michael Chaney will inherit challenging conditions in the conglomerate's industrial and resources division, but continued solid earnings from its retail businesses including Coles and Bunnings.
Retail spending in Western Australia has hit its highest level on record, in seasonally adjusted terms, with September expenditure more than $2.8 billion; yet growth is well down from the heights of the boom.
Supermarkets giant Woolworths has placed two supermarket sites in Western Australia on the market, part of a national portfolio of neighbourhood shopping centres collectively valued at $180 million.
New retail trading laws for WA will affect businesses as varied as Bunnings, Masters, stallholders at short-term markets and even shops on Rottnest Island as the state government moves to widen trading hours and remove anomalies in current regulations.
Aldi’s $450 million expansion into Western Australia is gathering steam, with the German supermarket giant starting the recruitment process for 400 new staff, and construction under way at 11 of its 2
Western Australia's Caratti and Cardaci families have featured for the first time in BRW's rich families list, while the Buckeridge family has been ranked as the state's wealthiest.
Former iiNet boss Michael Smith has replaced Russell Withers as chairman of convenience store chain 7-Eleven, while chief executive Warren Wilmot has resigned following revelations the company’s franchisees had been underpaying their workers.
The traditionally dominant players in Australian retail are being forced to reinvent themselves in the face of increased competition – from each other, and a host of international raiders.
While storm clouds gather over office assets and land development comes off the boil, interest in retail property is building as investors look for somewhere secure to park their cash. Click through to see our list of WA's top 10 locally-based shopping centre owners.
