John King boosts Myer's bankruptcy expertise
Joe AstonColumnist
Feb 5, 2019 – 12.15am
The third remaking of post-TPG Myer continues under British retailer
John King.
And in the established tradition of business leaders surrounding themselves with people they know, King has wasted no time clearing out predecessor
Richard Umbers' management team and restacking the executive floor with his former team at failed UK retailer House of Fraser.
Chief merchandising officer
Allan Winstanley spent nine years at HOF alongside King before joining US department store Sears in 2017 as head of apparel.
Winstanley joined Myer in July and Sears filed for bankruptcy in October.
In between, HOF entered administration.
As if the turnaround team wasn't collapse-credentialled enough, Myer is about to hire King's successor as House of Fraser CEO,
Nigel Oddy, as its new chief operating officer.
No kidding. Commenting on his HOF appointment in 2014, Oddy revealed that "we have already agreed locations to expand the brand in China, with three stores due to open over the next two years, and plan to open further new stores in the Middle East."
That never happened (shock, horror) but it sure
does remind us of Bernie Brookes' Myer Dubai ("there aren't many new sites where we can build Myer stores, so we are forced to look overseas"), which also, mercifully, never happened.
Like Winstanley, Oddy left House of Fraser in 2017.
In established tradition, John King has wasted no time clearing out predecessor Richard Umbers' management team and restacking the executive floor with his former team at failed UK retailer House of Fraser.
Needless to say, House of Fraser was a laggard online, too reliant on concessions and with an oversize store footprint. Sound familiar?
And now the band's reforming – though for what will surely be their farewell tour; three experts in a dying format, fresh from lavish flops, and to do what?
Tell us with some authority what an iceberg looks like up close?
Myer chairman
Garry Hounsell's right to cite their relevant experience all right, but it's experience at failure.
These boys are playing him off a break. Admittedly, that is one of the few easy assignments left in retail.
A slew of retailers has issued profit warnings since a soft shopping Christmas: Kathmandu, PAS Group, Wesfarmers for Kmart and The Reject Shop.
Myer, whose reporting half ends on January 31, obstinately refused to do the same despite
leaked internal numbers forcing it to confirm a 4.8 per cent fall in first-quarter sales.
But luckily Hounsell used to run accounting firm Arthur Andersen (also now defunct), so he's real good with numbers.
Chief merchandising officer Allan Winstanley (left) spent nine years at House of Fraser alongside John King (right). AFR
Nigel Oddy's plans to open House of Fraser stores in China and the Middle East remind us of Bernie Brookes' Myer Dubai. Supplied
(20min delay)