Carrie LaFrenz

California

Senior Journalist, Retail & Consumer Goods at Australian Financial Review

Cali girl. Beach lover. Snowboarder. General sceptic. Mom. Got a story? PM me.

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Articles

Pizza Hut, Wendy’s recruits new boss as it targets mega expansion

1 week ago | afr.com | Carrie LaFrenz

Flynn Group, the operator of Pizza Hut and the relaunched Wendy’s burger chain in Australia, has appointed a former KFC executive to run its regional business in a bid to grow its share of a competitive market. Richard Wallis, who ran KFC Asia Pacific, will take over as Flynn’s regional chief, succeeding Phil Reed, who ran Pizza Hut in Australia before the business was acquired by Flynn in 2023 from buyout firm Allegro Funds. Loading... Follow the topics, people and companies that matter to you.
Wittner the latest retailer to hit the wall, calling in administrators

1 week ago | afr.com | Carrie LaFrenz

Wittner, the women’s boot retailer founded over a century ago, has collapsed and appointed a restructuring advisor after sales slumped and costs rose. Wittner is owned by British special situations investor Hilco Capital and was founded in 1912 as Australia’s first mail-order footwear business. Hilco is the firm which purchased Cue Clothing form the Levis family earlier this month. Loading...
British sports giant Fraser Group launches aggressive push to take on Rebel with Sports Direct

1 week ago | afr.com | Carrie LaFrenz

Rebel Sport’s dominance of the fitness goods market is under attack after British retail giant Frasers launched an aggressive push into the Australian market with a plan to open more than 100 Sports Direct stores. The London-listed retailer, which owns brands such as Slazenger and Everlast, will spend $60.4 million to increase its stake in shoe retailer Accent, which owns Hype DC and Platypus stores, to 19.6 per cent. Loading... Follow the topics, people and companies that matter to you.
Can engine oil be Bunnings’ next big break? Auto rivals hope not

1 week ago | afr.com | Carrie LaFrenz

Apr 14, 2025 – 5.00am or Subscribe to save articleSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe. Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Last month, a team of analysts at Citi went out to Preston, in Melbourne’s north, to visit a Bunnings store. Of particular interest was half an aisle of car products – tow bars, coolant, engine oil.
Greens promise $30 million to try to lure Aldi to Tasmania

1 week ago | afr.com | Carrie LaFrenz

• Follow our live coverage of the 2025 federal electionThe Greens vowed to spend $30 million to lure retailers, including Aldi, to Tasmania to challenge the duopoly of Coles and Woolworths, but the discount supermarket chain immediately ruled out expanding to the island state.
JD Sports hires former Rebel executive as it eyes expansion

2 weeks ago | afr.com | Carrie LaFrenz

Apr 10, 2025 – 3.47pm or Subscribe to save articleSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe. Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? JD Sports has hired a former Rebel Sport executive to run its local stores as the athletics wear industry braces for the arrival of Sports Direct, the powerhouse fitness brand owned by London-listed Frasers Group. Tom Leak, the head of retail operations at luxury homewares chain Coco Republic, starts on Monday.
US-China trade war could lead to cheaper goods for Australians: Ruslan Kogan

2 weeks ago | afr.com | Carrie LaFrenz

Apr 9, 2025 – 8.00pm or Subscribe to save articleSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe. Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? Chinese manufacturers looking to reroute goods originally destined for the United States are now expected to direct a large amount of that stock to markets such as Australia, driving down prices for consumers.
Can Target save itself by becoming more expensive?

2 weeks ago | afr.com | Carrie LaFrenz

Apr 5, 2025 – 5.00am or Subscribe to save articleSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe. Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? The lambskin leather jackets, $99, are flying off the rack. So are the European linen pants and shirt sets, $90. Where can shoppers find these products? Target, but not its sister brand Kmart.
Cue Clothing and its Veronika Maine brand sold to Britain’s Hilco

3 weeks ago | afr.com | Carrie LaFrenz

Apr 3, 2025 – 4.40pm or Subscribe to save articleSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe. Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? The wealthy Levis family has sold Cue Clothing, the retailing business behind its namesake women’s fashion label and the Veronika Maine brand, to British asset manager Hilco Capital. As part of the deal, Cue Clothing chief executive Simon Schofield is leaving the business in August.
More shoppers say Coles (not Woolworths) is their main supermarket

3 weeks ago | afr.com | Carrie LaFrenz

Apr 3, 2025 – 5.00am or Subscribe to save articleSubscribe to gift this articleGift 5 articles to anyone you choose each month when you subscribe. Subscribe nowAlready a subscriber? More shoppers say Coles is their main supermarket than any other in a significant reversal of sentiment towards Woolworths, which has fallen behind its smaller rival for the first time in years.