Business Breakdown: Red sheds head up-market with group name change

Sept 16 (BusinessDesk) The Warehouse may be where everyone gets a bargain, but the company wants to broaden its image and, in the process, is taking its brand up-market into what may be higher yielding territory.

Thats one reason the business weve always known as The Warehouse will in future be referred to as TW Group. The traditional red sheds placed as a sub-brand alongside Warehouse Stationery (blue sheds or shops), and two recent acquisitions: the Noel Leeming appliance store chain and online retailer Torpedo7.

The other reason is the business itself is going shopping for other acquisitions, with the aim of becoming New Zealands leading multi-channel retailer.

Chief executive Mark Powell isnt saying what those acquisitions might be, but they would have to fit with TW Group being number one or two in New Zealand in a market segment.

Growth figures for June to reflect drought

Newly elected Labour Party leader David Cunliffe is likely to get a small present, gift-wrapped by Statistics New Zealand, when economic growth figures for the three months to June 30 are released on Thursday.

Theyre likely to show the economy shrank by anywhere between 0.2 percent and 0.6 percent. While the reason for that is the impact on agricultural production of the severe drought earlier this year, the political reality remains that it dents the governments rosy story of an economic recovery.

But that wont stop Cunliffe taking an early opportunity to point out the lack of depth in the recovery thats implied by the fact that a drought can knock us into negative growth so easily.

All eyes on the US as tapering decision finally looms

After apparently endless blather about when, whether and to what extent the US Federal Reserve will start turning off the money pump, this is the week when the Fed will actually make a decision.

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Business Breakdown: Red sheds head up-market with group name change