Who is representing Gunns in Canberra? With the pulp mill project officially “troubled”, no lobbyist has put their hand up as representing the forestry products behemoth on the Register of Lobbyists. Sydney corporate relations firm Cato Counsel was hired recently by Gunns but “it’s just media – no lobbying” says senior consultant Matt Horan. So who’s on the case for Gunns’ relations with Rudd and co?
Qantas says “let them eat cake!”. Just to alert Crikey readers that the food boxes have made a return. Lift the lid on the colourful design to find…breakfast.
Last night Qantas cancelled 3 international flights. QF 1, 73 and 187. They then had to book 800 hotel rooms in Sydney to accommodate the passengers.
I’ve also noticed declining staff numbers in the last few months at Myer. Given that it’s a highly unionised workforce (where even many casuals are members) it’s interesting that the union (SDA) haven’t had a word to say publicly. Is it because they have been more interested in doing factional deals in Kororoit than standing up for retail workers?
Any doubt about the serious decline in the economy is fading with today’s full-page ads from David Jones, promoting their version of Myer’s 2006 ‘History making Clearance’. Stocktake sales for both Myer and DJs, which normally provide a big boost to end of financial year sales results, have been a disaster for both retailers. The normally resilient DJs need to move masses of stock fast, and Myer is pondering what to do as well. Look out for new sale promotion for this weekend. After the first few days of good trade, Myer’s three-week sale has delivered an overall sales decline, which could drop the private equity owned business into the red for the six months ended July.
Re the Myer shedding staff tip, I went to DJs last week to buy some u/pants at sale price (30%OFF) and could not find a sales person on the floor in the entire Menswear dept. I considered walking towards the exit in the hope of finding any staff in any dept. A brave late teen lad offered to help and apologised for the wait saying that he was the lone staffer for the dept! Unreal.
Where is Sensis? Online bully eBay handed Telstra’s Sensis a golden opportunity with their heavy-handed demands that eBay users must pay COD or via their subsidiary, PayPal. Sensis has been characteristically quiet, when they could have used it as a huge competitive advantage. Reminiscent of Sensis’s failure to capitalise on their acquisition of Trading Post, which is now a basket case. Years after Sensis bought Trading Post, then the biggest classified business in the country (now, less than half its original market share), and years after eBay started online auctions in Australia, Sensis last month announced (finally) an online auction site for Trading Post. Not a bad effort really. After years in the making and years of watching customers move across to eBay, Sensis finally acts. Pencil in 2012 for a Sensis response to the eBay/PayPal debacle.
Tumbleweeds at Myer … OK, I’m a shirty shopper at the best of times, but a while ago I waited for way too long at a deserted Myer cashier’s station at my local Myer – a most uninviting and neglected-looking store – to buy a clock radio. When no-one appeared and without any staff visible well into the the middle distance, I held up the item and called out, ‘if no-one comes to serve me soon, I’m walking out of the store with this’. A mortified teen appeared and served me very quickly and in total silence as if I’d escaped from a nuthouse. Tactic worked though.
That’s nothing Virginia. I went to DJs in Canberra one lunchtime a few weeks ago to buy a suit. I wanted a double-breaster with side vents, and pleated trousers with cuffs, and the poor little boy at the sales counter didn’t understand a word I was saying. He looked good, though. A quick phone call to a well-known Bunda Street establishment had me suited up in half an hour. And don’t you pay any attention to common little ticks like Steven.
I’m sorry but has the tips and rumours section really been reduced to stories about the lack of service at Myer/DJs? Oh for the glory days of Crikey when the Democrats chose to commit suicide through these pages!
Now it’s all about whether someone can get service to buy their undies. A bit sad really.
Myer staff and service were already pretty scarce 15 years ago and I shudder to imagine how much worse it has become. A lot of Australian businesses seem to be suffering from corporate anorexia, where they have downsized their staffing levels to the point where it seriously affects their financial health and life-expectancy. I have lost count of the number of times I have left a pile of goods that I was intending to buy and walked out of a store because I couldn’t face the ridiculously long queues just to pay for the items. One Saturday there were just two teenagers working the check-outs at the local K Mart – and at least 10 closed registers. I’d like to support local businesses but with the Australian dollar rapidly approaching parity with the US dollar and a severe absence of staff at local stores, internet shopping is a very tempting alternative.