Mother-of-two Jun Bei Liu visited Kmart just last week.
asserted
Liu → visit → Kmart
Her trip to Kmart Chatswood Chase yielded new lunch boxes for the kids, organisational baskets and decorative trays, to go with some recently purchased Anko vases.
asserted
trip → yield → vases
Her 13-year-old son and his friend also paid a visit to the Sydney store.
asserted
son → pay → store
“They bought a pair of slides,” she said.
asserted
she → buy → slides
“It’s the first time they’ve ever been to the shops by themselves.”
asserted
they → ’ → themselves
She remembers the department store in Macquarie Centre as having a messy apparel section, harsh lighting with a “warehouse feel”, a limited homewares section, and is not in a hurry to revisit.
“If I have to travel far and wide to find this store when it’s not convenient, and it doesn’t provide all the categories I need, why should I go there?
asserted
I → remember → categories
”
Big W’s sticky narrative as Australia’s runner-up discount chain is unfortunately yet inevitably defined by how it is dwarfed by its more impressive, domineering rival Kmart, which for more than a decade has cemented its crown as the nation’s preferred discount department store.
asserted
which → define → store
Today, Big W’s national footprint (178 stores) is about half the size of Kmart’s (more than 300), after 30 store closures were announced in 2019.
asserted
closures → announce → 2019
While Kmart consistently produces more than $1 billion in profits, Big W’s have been in a downward slide for several years, and sank to minus $33 million in the 2025 financial year.
asserted
W → produce → year
Some wonder what parent company Woolworths intends to do with it.
asserted
Woolworths → wonder → it
In early 2025, the supermarket group’s chief executive, Amanda Bardwell, reignited speculation that a sale or exit of Big W might be on the cards after announcing a strategic review of the “shape of its business portfolio”.
uncertain
sale → reignite → portfolio
Management are eager to impart that a corner has been turned.
asserted
corner → impart → ?
Big W swung back into the black in the latest financial year, turning a $64 million profit thanks to less heavy discounting, stronger clothing sales and a thriving marketplace business.
asserted
W → swing → discounting
“We’re still early days in our transformation,” said Big W managing director Dan Hake.
asserted
Hake → ’re → transformation
“We’ve had an important milestone this financial year, which was to prove out that we can step up our game in product.
asserted
we → have → product
We can be absolutely competitive on price, and we can be lean and consistent enough in our operations that we can still make a profit at the end of the year.
asserted
we → make → year
That’s just step one.”
asserted
That → ’ → ?
The turnaround strategy is simple: keep shelf prices low, put better-quality products on the shelf, and get more efficient.
Big W’s traditional areas of strength (“the purpose of Big W is to make a real difference for families,” said Hake) have been primarily in its kids’ offering, a books department so formidable that local book store operators complain it undercuts their market share, and toy aisles full of Barbies, Lego sets, Pokémon cards and Bluey merch.
Much investment has been poured into clothing, health and beauty, and homewares departments.
asserted
investment → keep → departments
Change rooms at newly renovated stores are painted in colourful pastels and large enough to fit prams.
asserted
rooms → renovate → prams
“We know that families spend on their kids first,” said Hake.
asserted
Hake → know → kids
“But we also want mum to have a great experience.
asserted
mum → want → experience
Store layouts are being reconfigured and trialled.
asserted
layouts → reconfigure → ?
Big W’s Plumpton store, 45 kilometres west of Sydney CBD, is among a handful of newly renovated stores with semi-enclosed sections for beauty and tech that are as much about driving people to explore what’s on the shelf as it is about stemming theft.
asserted
it → renovate → theft
A budget version of the popular barrel leg-style jeans sells for $30.
asserted
version → sell → 30
“We’re not famous for it yet, but I think there’s great value,” said Hake.
asserted
Hake → ’re → it
“We will get the growth, and we will become more front of mind for customers.”
asserted
we → get → customers
Big W’s inescapable challenge is that it is stuck playing catch-up to Kmart, which has turned its in-house brand Anko into a standalone brand.
asserted
which → stick → brand
But Big W cannot replicate Kmart’s strategy of turning private label products into 85 per cent of sales; it must juggle the dual task of growing exclusive-label lines without cannabilising its role as a “house of brands”.
asserted
it → replicate → brands
Kmart has organised its business around a tight supply chain that takes globally trending designs, bulk-ordering from Asian manufacturers in huge quantities, and selling them in Australia en masse.
asserted
that → organise → masse
Its homewares and furniture department is so successful it has spawned an IKEA-like spin-off, K Home.
asserted
it → spawn → off
Shoppers on a budget, who have more price comparison tools today than ever, are choosing where to spend with ruthlessness.
asserted
who → have → ruthlessness
“If you’ve got a product and that product is even 10¢ cheaper at the competitor next door, that’s where they’re going to shop it.
asserted
they → get → it
If quality is just a little bit off, and you’re trying to get away with saving costs in the wrong places, your customer is going to shop that product elsewhere,” said Hake.
asserted
Hake → try → product
“These sound like little things, but to do it effectively at scale across the entire store, across all these different categories, it’s a big ask, right?
asserted
it → sound → categories
You need to be absolutely on the ball.”
It has demanded a broader cultural change across the organisation and a sharper focus on one united vision (“we are a price fighter on behalf of our customers”).
asserted
we → need → customers
product designers and category managers have been brought in-house.
asserted
designers → bring → house
“It’s a game of simplicity, stock flow, and just getting the basics right,” said Hake.
asserted
Hake → ’ → simplicity
Where is Big W going?
asserted
W → go → ?
Big W’s position as runner-up goes deeper than mere numbers.
asserted
position → go → numbers
Through Anko, Kmart’s offer to customers is unambiguous: designer-inspired products at budget prices.
asserted
offer → inspire → prices
…and 22 more, not listed.
The Aporia
