Nail bars, trendy brands: 125-year-old department store Myer promises major facelift

The Age

28-05-2025

Flashy store displays, on-trend beauty and clothing labels, blow-dry services: these are features that Myer is promising Australians as it plots to turn around its reputation for being a decaying department store that only caters to older shoppers.
In a presentation blitz to investors on Wednesday, the first strategy day Myer has held since 2017, chief executive Olivia Wirth offered a glimpse into the work under way to win over younger customers and position the 125-year-old chain as the go-to retailer for the next generation of shoppers.
Wirth, who is nearing the one-year mark in her first CEO job, after nearly 15 years at Qantas, used her speech to set the tone for the company's 'transformation journey' for the next three to five years: no looking back.
'We were no longer hitting the mark in a number of product, brand and customer categories, including our exclusive brands,' she said on Wednesday morning.
'It is no exaggeration to suggest Myer's future would be at risk over the long term if we had continued on the path we were on.
'By knowing our customer, we are better placed to meet their needs, and I know that sounds obvious, but it's not something we have been doing.'
Here are the changes you can expect to see at a Myer department store near you:
Younger shoppers targeted; trendier brands brought in
Myer's biggest customer base is those 44 to 59 years of age, representing 30 per cent of their shoppers. It is 'under-indexed with 31 to 49-year-olds,' and just one in five Myer shoppers are under 30 years old.