Woolworths is resisting pressure to offload BIG W even though the chain will lose another $150 million this year as it battles to fix basic processes and overcome perceptions the format is “dated and dormant”.
Woolworths slashed prices on more than 2000 products at BIG W in 2017 by an average 20 per cent in an attempt to reverse declining sales and has flagged further price investment in 2018 in an attempt to restore customer trust in its prices.
The investment in 2017 took a massive toll, with losses blowing out to $151 million, and Woolworths warned of similar losses in 2018, taking the red ink over three years to more than $315 million.
Sales fell 5.8 per cent to $3.6 billion as BIG W lost share to Wesfarmers’ Kmart, cost …
Read the full article at: http://www.afr.com/business/retail/woolworths-struggles-to-turn-around-dated-and-dormant-big-w-20170823-gy28ls