Retail

Hardware giant Bunnings has announced it will invest $135 million dollars in network expansion in Western Australia, at the opening of its new store in Armadale today.

Scooter manufacturer and retailer Vmoto has been admitted to London's Alternative Investment Market after raising £1.6 million ($2.44 million) through a share placement.

A push by state governments to lower or scrap the GST threshold on online purchases from overseas would create a level playing field for the country's retailers, a peak lobby group says.

Retailer Harvey Norman's profit in the first quarter of the 2012/13 financial year has dropped by 20 per cent because of falling sales.

A moderate rise in Australian monthly retail sales is unlikely to move the central bank's position on interest rates, economists say.

Troubled clothes line, electronics and building products maker Hills Holdings is to start shedding jobs as part of a massive restructure.

Household and automotive products supplier GUD Holdings says most of its businesses are under pressure and has warned that profits in the first half of the current financial year may be 15 per cent

JB Hi-Fi says trading conditions remain challenging but it remains confident that it can grow market share during fiscal 2013.

Growing Australian interest in Halloween is making the quintessentially American celebration as important for retailers as Easter and Christmas, the peak retailers' group says.

Plans are in motion for a $350 to $400 million redevelopment of Booragoon's Garden City shopping centre, after a complex multi-million dollar ownership swap between Westfield and AMP Capital.

Wesfarmers has overcome tough times in the retail world and lifted its first quarter sales.

Struggling surfwear company Billabong has reaffirmed its earnings guidance, despite difficult trading conditions.

Businesses have received some positive news as they head into the crucial Christmas sales period, in the form of a sharp rebound in consumer spending.

Consumer sentiment is showing some "green shoots", says Wesfarmers chief executive Richard Goyder.

Woolworths' first quarter sales have increased by 4.3 per cent to more than $15 billion.

Automotive Holdings Group chairman Bronte Howson sold off $2.5 million in shares he received as an incentive after the car dealer network achieved a 94th percentile ranking in shareholder returns o

Billabong shares have plunged almost 17 per cent to their lowest ever price, after private equity firm TPG withdrew its $694.5 million takeover offer.

Consumer sentiment has improved slightly, but Australians remain pessimistic about the national economy.

Woolworths is spinning off its $1.4 billion shopping centres portfolio in a move that is expected to free up cash to help fight its price war with rival Coles.

Shares in troubled surf retailer Billabong have dived 18 per cent due to speculation a second private equity firm was considering withdrawing its takeover bid.

Australians are buying more cars and trucks this year with new vehicle sales increasing 9.4 per cent for the first nine months of the year, compared to the same period in 2011.

Harvey Norman chairman Gerry Harvey took a $115,000 pay cut in the 2011/12 financial year after the retailer's profits plunged 32 per cent.

The head of the former Centro Properties Group was paid $3 million in the final five months of the shopping centre owner's operation.

Coles boss Ian McLeod remains the highest paid executive at conglomerate Wesfarmers, despite taking a slight pay cut last financial year.

Woolworths shares have dipped slightly in early trade after it announced the sale of its Dick Smith Electronics chain to a private equity firm for $20 million.

Retail brand owner Premier Investments says it is enjoying great success from its shops in Singapore and plans to push into other Asian markets.

Shares in Billabong have dived after the troubled surfwear retailer said one of two private equity firms interested in taking over the group had withdrawn its offer.

Cautious consumers are keeping their wallets firmly shut and business needs to adapt to this new-found frugality, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia says.

Department store retailer David Jones has reported a 39.9 per cent fall in full year profit.

Car yards sold more new vehicles in August than ever before.

Surfwear brand Rip Curl is investigating approaches to invest in the company from several international organisations.

Supermarket retailer Woolworths insists it has not yet made a decision on whether to sell more of its multi-billion-dollar property portfolio.