CHANGING FACE OF RETAIL

LARGE retail chains such as Target have been part of Geelong’s story since 1925, when founders George Lindsay and Alex McKenzie opened a drapery store in Geelong.

After acquiring the original store from Lindsay in 1957, Geoff Betts and John Wade grew the single store base in Geelong to a statewide multistore business. By 1968, the company had grown to 14 small stores around Victoria.

Myer Emporium Ltd, recognising the potential for growth, bought the business and the company became

Lindsay’s Target Pty Ltd, which was later rebranded as Target Australia Pty Ltd in 1973.

In 1996 Fosseys and Target merged, expanding Target’s footprint in regional areas. At that time, Target employed more than 20,000 staff nationally and 1200 in the headquarters in Geelong. In November 2007, Target was acquired by Wesfarmers.

In 2013, the company cut 260 jobs at the Geelong headquarters following a restructure after 12 months of sales and profit under-performance. Another 100 staff lost their jobs in 2016. By

2018, Target’s 92-year history in

Geelong came to an end when its headquarters, then employing 900 people, relocated to Williams Landing in Melbourne’s western suburbs. While some staff were offered new roles in other Wesfarmers businesses such as Kmart, up to 180 jobs were cut and over 700 jobs moved to Melbourne.

As one large retail chain downsized, another accelerated. Cotton On has become one of Australia’s largest global retailers with over 1500 stores in 18 countries employing 22,000 workers globally. Headquartered in Geelong, the Cotton On group employs 1370 people in the office, retail and warehousing functions in Greater Geelong.

The local team controls the steps of production from merchandise planning to establishing specifications, and production is outsourced to about 850 suppliers and factories globally. The group has launched brands including Cotton On, Cotton On Kids, Cotton On Body, Rubi, Typo and Factorie. In 2013, Cotton On acquired Australian female youth brand Supré.

In 2018, the Cotton On Group developed a 35,000sq m, $40m automated distribution and fulfilment centre near the Avalon Airport Industrial Precinct.