Very varied views across the market but underneath there appears...

Very varied views across the market but underneath there appears to be a consensus on some of the positives around good management and some of the new international experience coming into the ranks. AFR has run an article pondering whether Solomon Lew will have a tilt at Myer and another this evening on the level of short selling going on around the stock. Given the volume of shares trading hands I wonder if there is any interesting trends on the buying side.

While some of the capital spending flagged was picked up by the market as cost problems the statement did word that a degree of this was subject to trading conditions. Its not that long ago that David Jones was plagued by a number of issues which probably emboldened Myer to make their approach. Given the value that Woolworths put on David Jones eventually the approach by Myer was good business. The aussie dollar changes may impact some of the costing but also have a potential upside in the online side as the cost of buying online from overseas and shipping to Aus may not be as good as buying online from Myer which is making improvements in this area. Bricks/mortar retailers may not be in vogue but good locations/brands can still win in this area as Harvey Norman has been proving recently. Omni-channel around physical premises is a good strategy as it plays the older marketing slogan of location, location, location.