Myer
OVERALL |
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Owned |
AUS |
Rating |
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Department stores
Founded in Bendigo, Vic in 1900 and merged with Coles in 1985. Acquired by a consortium of US private equity firms in 2006, who floated the company on the Australian Stock Exchange in Oct 2009. They operate 67 stores around Australia. Acquired designer labels Sass & Bide in 2011, Howard Showers and Charlie Brown in 2014 and Marcs and David Lawrence in 2017.
Company Ownership
Myer Holdings Ltd | AUS | website | ||||
Premier Investments Ltd ![]() owns 11% of Myer Holdings Ltd |
AUS | website | ||||
Investment firm Chaired by one of Australia's richest men, Solomon Lew. Lindsay Fox is also on the board of Directors. Acquired clothing retail group Just Group in 2008. |
Company Assessment
PRAISE | CRITICISM | INFORMATION | ||
Myer Holdings Ltd | ||||
Signatory to the Australian Packaging Covenant, a voluntary agreement to encourage waste minimisation.
Source: Australian Packaging Covenant (2020)
This company is collaborating with the Ethical Fashion Initiative, a United Nations initiative which connects the fashion business with artisans in Africa and Haiti. It provides work for marginalized women who have a strong desire to change their lives. The project provides employment, fair wages and training.
Source: International Trade Centre (2020)
B- grade in the Baptist World Aid Australia's 'Ethical Fashion Report 2019', which grades companies, from A to F, on the strength of their systems to mitigate against the risks of forced labour, child labour and worker exploitation in their supply chains, as well as protect the environment from the harmful impacts of the fashion industry. Assessment criteria fall into five main categories: policies, transparency and traceability, auditing and supplier relationships, worker empowerment and environmental management.
Source: Baptist World Aid Australia (2019) |
Oxfam Australia's Company Tracker compares the big clothing brands on their efforts to pay a living wage to the women working in their factories. This company has not published a list of its supplier factories, has not made a public commitment to paying living wages, and does not have a satisfactory grievance mechanism in place for workers to report violations of their rights.
Source: Oxfam Australia (2019)
According to Oxfam's 2019 report, "Made in Poverty - The True Cost of Fashion", this company sources from Bangladesh and Vietnam. Some of the many disturbing findings of the research in Bangladesh were that 100 per cent of workers interviewed were not paid a living wage, nine out of ten could not afford enough food for themselves and their families until their next monthly pay and seven out of 10 could not pay for medical treatment when they were sick or injured. In Vietnam, 99 per cent were not paid a living wage and seven out of 10 women interviewed felt their pay was not enough to meet their needs.
Source: Oxfam Australia (2019) |
In 2011 Myer ran a modelling competition aimed at "real" women who wear dress sizes of 14 and above to promote the relaunch of its plus-size range Big is Beautiful. Myer didn't cover any travel, food or accommodation costs for the model competition entrants - many who travelled interstate. Many entrants complained of poor treatment. Finalists received a Myer gift pack worth $25 in return for spruiking the store.
Source: Crikey (2011)
This 2013 report by The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) investigates the labour and human rights risks in supply chain sourcing. This company is identified on page 21 as a company which sources products from countries with known systemic labour and human rights concerns.
Source: ACSI (2013)
This company won an award in 2015 from the Australian Packaging Covenant, for demonstrating their commitment to environmental sustainability by performing 'above and beyond' in their efforts to minimise waste. This company achieved the highest overall score in their category, retailers.
Source: Australian Packaging Covenant (2015)
This company has taken angora items off the shelves and promised not to use angora again, following a PETA campaign launched in Dec 2013 which revealed the cruelty inflicted on angora rabbits in Chinese factory farms, where 90% of the world's angora is produced.
Source: PETA (2014)
Myer has several corporate governance documents publicly available on its website, including their Ethical Sourcing Policy, Animal Welfare Policy and Code of Conduct.
Source: company website (2020)
In 2020 Baptist World Aid Australia released The COVID Fashion Report, a special edition of their Ethical Fashion Report. The report is framed around six COVID Fashion Commitments that ask companies to demonstrate the steps and measures they are taking to protect and support the most vulnerable workers in their supply chains. This company showed evidence of actions that cover SOME areas of the COVID Fashion Commitments.
Source: Baptist World Aid Australia (2020)
In 2020 Oxfam evaluated several clothing brand's purchasing practices across seven categories: whether a brand provides accurate forecasts of upcoming work to factories; its price negotiation strategies; whether a factory's environmental and social compliance influences the brand's purchasing decisions; how
a brand places orders with factories; what its payment terms are; commitment to pay a living wage; and the transparency of a brand's supply chain. This company was given a score of 2 with 4 being the highest possible score. Source: Oxfam Australia (2020)
According to investigations by Humane Society International in 2011, fur vests sold by Myer were found to contain dog fur from China. The label stated that the vests are 100% rabbit fur. Importation of dog or cat fur is illegal in Australia. Myer were quick to pull the vest from its stores.
Source: Humane Society International Australia (2011) |
Company Details
Type | Public company |
Revenue | $2.3 billion in 2019 |
Employees | 11,000 in 2019 |
Subsidiaries | sass & bide Pty Ltd ![]() Women's fashion Founders Sarah-Jane Clarke and Heidi Middleton sold a 65% share of their fashion label to Myer in Feb 2011. Myer acquired the remaining 35% in Sept 2013. Wayne Cooper Pty Ltd ![]() Fashion designer Acquired by Myer in 2012. |
Contact Details
Address | 800 Collins St, Docklands, VIC, 3008, Australia |
Phone | 03 8667 6000 |
Fax | 03 9661 3770 |
Freecall | 1800 811 611 |
Website | www.myer.com.au |