Former Qantas loyalty boss Olivia Wirth takes up chair at Myer

Former Qantas loyalty boss Olivia Wirth has been catapulted into the role of executive chair at department store Myer, tasked with driving the retailer’s next phase of growth.

It has been a quick race to the top for Ms Wirth, who only joined the board at November’s annual general meeting. She replaces Ari Mervis after a tenure that lasted just over four months.

Ms Wirth takes on the chair role with immediate effect and will add chief executive to her title when outgoing boss John King exits on June 4.

Ms Wirth — who had been considered among the frontrunners to replace former Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce before the role ultimately went to Vanessa Hudson last year — said she was honoured to take up the role “to lead one of Australia’s iconic businesses and brands into a new and exciting phase”.

“Myer is loved by millions of Australians and is one of the nation’s most enduring retailers thanks to the dedication and skill of our team members, and the loyalty of our customers,” she said.

“The next chapter in Myer’s story requires us to continue tackling some significant challenges and meet the changing needs of our customers. I am focused on delivering improved outcomes for our valued customers, team members and all Myer shareholders.”

Mr King’s exit will come a year after he announced he would leave the top job in the second half of 2024 to return to the US to be with family for health reasons.

The board shake-up will also see the elevation of current independent non-executive director Gary Weiss to deputy chair and lead independent director.

Myer executive general manager stores, Tony Sutton, has also been promoted to the new executive position of chief operating officer, reporting to Ms Wirth.

Myer on Thursday reported a 3 per cent fall in total sales for the first half of the financial year to $1.8 billion.

Myer said group comparable sales ticked up 0.1 per cent over the period, despite the “challenging macro trading conditions” and when compared to a “record sales performance” this time last year.

Group online sales rose 2 per cent to $390.1 million, representing 21.3 per cent of total sales. Statutory net profit fell 22.4 per cent to $50.5m.

“We were able to achieve a strong comparable sales outcome, cycling our best ever first half-sales of FY2023 and continued market share gains across both stores and online,” Mr King told investors on Thursday.

“We have a powerful multi-channel offer, which remains strong and a key point of difference for us.”

Myer also provided a trading update for the second half, saying department store comparable sales were up 4.9 per cent compared to the prior year.

“Like all retailers, we continue to remain cautious about the macro-economic environment, however, we are encouraged with our results for the first six weeks of 2H, and have a strong program of deliverables to roll out during the half as part of our Customer First Plan,” Mr King said.