some thoughts on sfh, page-2

Hi I agree with much of what you say, the internet will benefit retailing and I think there was an article in the AFR on thursday about la senza with the CEO mentioning how this store is set up to be internet enabled from day one... the journalist implied that the company that owns la senza also owns victoria secret and that building a good relationship could be the start of something bigger.

"The Internet" is no substitute for knowing your customer, and having an efficient and flexible supply chain...

Im most interested in how SFH manages their inventory during the downturn, I am praying that there isn't a build up which needs to be discounted.

I don't think this is the bottom of the cycle though; i think shares won't bottom until long after the headlines STOP talking about the death on retail...

Since they are only really waking up to this retail slowdown in the last 6 months I expect sentiment will be poor until the end of the year, and those which manage to become profitable in H1 2012 will not be rewarded until March 2012 when the Dec results are posted.

I see the next 9 months as extremely important for AU retailing... the winners and losers over the next 3 to 4 years will become apparent.

I'm seeing SFH at the dark horse which could disrupt the leaders.