Opinions will vary about Mr Lew but his personality aside, he is possessed of great business acumen. About time he was on the Board.
At the Myer Melbourne CBD store this morning well before 1200 AEDT, the fifth floor food section was busy but its range depleted as a fair amount must have sold over the weekend. Added to that is the Click'n'Collect and pure online purchasing activity that one cannot observe when in a bricks and mortar store.
On a CBD tram with 40 plus passengers there were at least five others with medium to large size Myer bags containing purchases, and the Bourke St Mall (which contains MYR Melbourne) was crowded. Not quite the busiest ever seen, but one doesn't expect that midmorning on a Monday. There was a lengthy queue for the MYR Christmas windows. Even if only five per cent of those adults and children enter MYR, it is a reasonable addition to shopper numbers.
Let's hope Christmas in-store retail activity for MYR is at the very least 'fair'. The lack of international tourists is a downer as some (especially mainland Chinese and other Asians) patronise stores like MYR as it has a range unavailable in their home nations.
More positively, with just two per cent of us (if that!) heading overseas this Christmas (Transport and Tourism Forum survey - see today's 'The Oz') means more money in the community's pockets. Some will be saved but inevitably department stores will be a minor or better beneficiary.
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