Kmart group axed its range of Australia Day merchandise last year and has now confirmed that they will not be bringing the products back, even if the date was to change from January 26.
Talking to News.com.au, the managing director of Wesfarmers’ Kmart Group has confirmed that they had very little pushback to the decision last year and that Kmart and Target will not be stocking Australia Day products even if the push to change the controversial date was successful.
While the retailer did stock Australian-themed attire and merchandise in the past, it confirmed last year that those ranges would no longer be stocked. “We respect that the 26 January means different things to different people, and we aim to foster an environment that is inclusive and respectful of both our customers and teams,” a spokesman for the retailer said last year.
Bailey denies any backlash despite several consumers taking to social media to express their disgust that the store was not selling a line of Australian-themed swag. “Please do not say they do not have the room as they have no trouble finding room for the American custom of Halloween,” one disgruntled customer said on social media.
Kmart Australia no longer uses Twitter.
If you’d like to let them know your thoughts on their refusal to sell Australia Day merchandise, like I just did, this is the best place to do it 👇🏻https://t.co/waT1BqBgTx
— Kobie Thatcher (@KobieThatcher) January 20, 2023
“We have so many customers; we’re always going to get comments on any given topic at any time,” Bailey said on the matter. “But in terms of any groundswell of any of any magnitude, there’s been nothing. It was never a big promotional day where we saw a surge in sales”.
Speaking at the US National Retail Federation’s 2024 Retail Big Show event in New York, Bailey said that the date was not the issue for the retailer. Instead, he attributed a lack of demand for Australian flag-emblazoned paper plates, clothes and other memorabilia. “There’s not enough demand in that one day to justify bringing products back,” he said.
“We carry (Australia-themed products) 365 days a year anyway”.
Kmart is not the first store to announce they will not sell Australia Day merchandise in the lead-up to the national holiday. Woolworths received a great deal of backlash after it declared it would not be stocking the merchandise last week, with politicians calling for a boycott of the store and a number of its Queensland shopfronts being vandalised. Aldi and Big W are among other stores to follow suit.
The holiday has been a date of much contention for many years now, with the public holiday recognised as a day of mourning among Indigenous communities, marking the day the British colonised Australia and invaded Indigenous land. Last Friday, Aldi announced that it would also be joining Woolworths in not stocking Australia Day merchandise in the lead-up to January 26.
