Kmart is opening its first standalone K Home store at Box Hill South in Melbourne’s east, in a move experts say could put the discount giant up against Ikea, Amart and Freedom. Picture: LinkedIn
Cult discount giant Kmart is launching a stand-alone store format aimed at winning budget-conscious Australian households from Ikea, Amart and Freedom.
The Wesfarmers-owned powerhouse will open its first K Home showroom at Box Hill South in Melbourne’s east on June 18, with most products in the store not available from regular Kmart outlets.
The store will focus on furniture and homewares in a showroom-style format, with curated displays and room-based inspiration designed to help shoppers furnish their homes without paying premium prices.
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Kmart chief commercial officer Callum Smith said the trial would help the retailer bring more of its home range into stores.
“K Home at Box Hill South gives us the opportunity to bring more of our home range into store and better understand how customers want to shop it,” Mr Smith said.
“The space has been designed differently from a traditional Kmart store, with a more immersive home environment, curated displays and room-based inspiration to help customers explore the range in a more intuitive way.
“Customers have embraced Kmart’s home range for many years, and we’ve continued to grow our furniture offer as customer demand has grown.”
Kmart’s K Home concept will bring more furniture and larger homewares into a physical store, with many products not available from regular Kmart outlets. Picture: Kmart
Mr Smith said affordability was central to the new concept.
“At a time when value matters more than ever, this trial is about helping Australian families create a home they love at a price they can afford,” he said.
Colliers commercial agent Jake Beckwith said K Home was more likely to compete with Ikea, Amart and Freedom than Spotlight.
“I wouldn’t put Spotlight in there because they’re more homewares, linen and curtains,” Mr Beckwith said.
“I’d be saying more so the Amarts and Freedoms of the world, or Amart, Freedom and Ikea.
“Absolutely, Kmart’s got their own iconic brand that they work with, and Anko is a bit of a cult figure.
“Everyone looks for those Kmart hacks online, so I think they’ve definitely got a big target audience that they can capture.”
K Home has been designed with curated displays and room-based inspiration to help shoppers furnish their homes without paying premium furniture prices. Picture: Kmart
Mr Beckwith said Kmart’s ability to refresh products quickly and find the right locations would be critical if the concept expanded.
“They’re a really good retailer, a really powerful retailer,” he said.
“They’ve got a strong brand behind them with Anko and they’re able to refresh the product line continuously and keep up with trends pretty quickly and swiftly.
“They’re very well versed in the property sphere, so they know their target locations and making sure that they’re just in front of the right people and the right eyes.”
Mr Beckwith said the smaller K Home format could give Kmart more flexibility than its traditional department stores.
“Being able to be more nimble, these K Homes are able to go into a lot smaller spaces than a typical Kmart would,” he said.
“It allows them to plug the gaps in the network that they otherwise wouldn’t have been able to find.”
Vanta Advisory buyers agent Alex Groh said Kmart’s new K Home format would need to feel different from a regular store while keeping the pulling power of the Kmart brand. Picture: Supplied
Vanta Advisory buyers agent Alex Groh said the concept was a smart way to draw shoppers into a physical retail destination at a time when large-format retailers were battling for foot traffic.
“That’s often the biggest struggle that a lot of large-format retail businesses or bulky-goods businesses have. It is getting people there,” Mr Groh said.
“We know that once people are there, they do spend money.
“So it’s a great way to get them in, a great way to get them looking into bigger-ticket items and buying the ancillary items they generally sell as well.”
Mr Groh said K Home needed to feel different from a regular Kmart while still leaning on the parent brand’s pulling power.
“It can’t lose the Kmart brand entirely,” he said.
“But if it is going to be a unique store, then it has to differentiate itself from the others to attract people to actually go there and not just shop at a regular Kmart.”
The new K Home store at Box Hill South will trial a more immersive showroom-style layout as Kmart pushes further into furniture and homewares. Picture: Kmart
He said the concept would be tested in a competitive furniture market, with discretionary spending still under pressure.
“You’ve got brands that have been around for a long time, your Focus on Furniture, your Nick Scalis,” Mr Groh said.
“But where they may differentiate themselves is bringing the typical Kmart experience and adding that furniture as a layer on top to draw people in.”
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