The lowdown on the Woolworths’ results, Warren Buffett puts in his two bob’s worth, growth in the UK, Japan’s travelling nicely and other business news of the day.
Woolworths
Business As Usual: How Woolies kicked a big goal … a veritable buffet of Buffett … warm inner glow in the UK
Brumby’s special hardware deals for pokies giant
No company has benefited more from the Victorian Labor Government than Australia’s biggest pokies operator, Woolworths, which just loves Brumby’s new gaming industry rules.
The 500 most powerful brands in the world
Brand Finance has released its annual list of the most powerful brands on the planet. Walmart comes in at number one, but Google has knocked off Coke for the number two spot, whilst Woolies, Telstra and Australia’s Big Four all make the cut, too.
Choice: Why supermarket loyalty cards are rubbish
Choice bust open supermarket loyalty card programs in a new report: they generally save less than a dollar per $100 spent, and often end up costing you money. Meanwhile, Coles and Woolies are gathering up your private data.
When did Woollies buy Australia Day?
Eva Cox nearly became an Australia Day ambassador this year — until she was asked to publicly thank Woolworths for its ‘generous support’ of the program. Does a national holiday really need a corporate sponsor?
Tight arses unite for a merry homebrand Christmas
Branded grocery item prices are soaring while homebrand versions are dropping in price. Start buying no name to reign those greedy big brands in, says the government. But should we blame brands or the supermarkets?
The Manningham Diaries: Woolies spinner sparks pokies bunfight
Last night at the final Manningham City Council meeting of 2009, pokies giant Woolworths sent one of their spin doctors to the public gallery to ask hostile questions of the shareholder activist turned local politician.
AGMs: let the minutes show it’s a last-minute thing
It’s a peak time for companies large and small to hold meetings, with Harvey Norman, Goodman Group and Valad Group taking their good time to get their AGMs organised.
Woolworths reeling, when will they fold on pokies?
Never before have Woolworths chairman James Strong and CEO Michael Luscombe been forced to engage in such detail about their iniquitous 12,000-strong pokies operation.
Morning Market Report: Market up as golden streak continues
Market, Dow up as AGMs are help all round.
With Roger Corbett, it’s a question of character
Roger Corbett’s Christian values didn’t appear to count for much when the opportunity presented for Woolies to leap into the pokies business. Why is the anti-gambling Salvation Army associated with someone who actively supports pokies?
Popping the cork on the Coles vs. Woolies bubbly war
In the season of champagne racing breakfasts, expensive champagne has become significantly cheaper thanks to parallel importing and a price war going on between Vintage Cellars and Dan Murphy’s. The biggest winner? Thirsty consumers.
NAB sees blue skies ahead
The NAB’s quarterly business survey shows improvements in confidence, expectations and conditions ahead of tomorrow’s important consumer inflation figures.
Grocery retail dominance is a threat to public health
It is easy to bash the grocery heavies, but to really address the issue of healthy eating, a multi-faceted approach is required — one that looks at social and health factors as much as economic ones, writes Jon Wardle.
The fresh battle of the apples
It’s the tech gods vs. the fresh food people as Apple challenges Woolworths new logo, which is either an apple or a stylised ‘W’, depending who you ask. But are Woolies and Apple really rivals?
Walker must walk from Fairfax now
Fairfax patriarch John B Fairfax has condemned Ron Walker’s term as chairman, demanding he resign at the company’s November annual general meeting.
Coles folds on pokies, will Woolies be next?
Those nice men from Wesfarmers, sitting in pokies-free Perth, have wilted in the face of a strong campaign over kids in venues and committed to spend millions cleaning up their gambling venues, writes Stephen Mayne.
Tips and rumours: Tips and rumours: Comings and goings in the Nine newsroom
There’s movement at the station down at Nine Melbourne, Fairfax’s traineeships still on suspension, Woolies builds its own hardware team, and more from the Crikey tipsters.
Australia embraces the Woolworths economy
The supermarket business is at the heart of the Woolies cash machine, and big growth in the sector is tightening the group’s grip on Australian retailing.
Two supermarkets, one leader
Woolworths is in another class from Coles, says Malcolm Maiden. With Woolies lifting food and liquor sales by 7.4% in the last year, Coles is left to hope: surely they can’t keep this up.
Morning Market Report: Market down this morning
The market is down 7, but Wall St gained slightly overnight. Also, Woolworths is up, but the focus is on the Hardware roll-out, which will probably not reflect well on Wesfarmers (Bunnings).
Lowes hardware just the beginning for Woolworths
Retail giant Woolworths is moving into hardware to take on Wesfarmers’s key business, Bunnings Warehouse, making a takeover bid for Danks Holdings, which operates Home Timber and Hardware, Thrifty-Link and Plants Plus Garden Centres.
Petrol pricing move likely to backfire on the major retailers
Whilst shopper docket schemes at Coles and Woolworths have been considered pro-competitive up to now, the ACCC are now looking a bit more closely.
