Retail giant Myer has reported strong sales growth in the first part of the new fiscal year, including the company’s best Black Friday sales performance on record.

Executive chairwoman Olivia Wirth told Thursday’s annual shareholder meeting that, in the first half of financial year 2026, group sales increased by 3 per cent compared with the prior corresponding period (PCP).

Myer’s retail sales increased by 3.4 per cent PCP, while its apparel brands business improved by 1.3 per cent PCP, a result which the company credited to Just Jeans.

Just Jeans entered Myer’s portfolio after the deal in which Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments sold the retail fashion brand, along with Jay Jays, Portmans, Dotti, and Jacqui E, to Myer. The deal took Lew’s stake in Myer to around 30 per cent.

Lew will now take a seat on the Myer board, commencing in April.

Lew, 80, first started selling apparel to Myer at age 18. Now, some 62 years later, he is effectively the company’s largest single shareholder.