rategy and Move, told Inside Retail PREMIUM, that the company is currently in negotiations with Westfield for a 10 store deal, which is close to completion. “We think we can be in all states,” said Dykes. The density will be more in Victoria and NSW, but there’s great opportunities in the other states too.” Trade at the stores, which target fashion-oriented females 25 to 35 has been strong, and Dykes says the company has been pleased with brand’s performance to date. “What we’re surprised and pretty delighted about is that guys are just as comfortable in the store,” he said. “On a recent exit survey we did in Bondi, the mix was 51 per cent female and 49 per cent male. When we talked to them, they said they liked hanging out because it was a cool store.” Move stores are between 160sqm and 180sqm, with very little localisation or change between each of the stores’ assortment. Despite this, there has been a significant turnover in range since the December launch. “It may surprise you to know that from the first store we opened in Bondi to Indooroopilly (the latest) we’ve refreshed 60 per cent of the range instore based on customer feedback on newness. “Our customers need things that are fresh, they want to be first to market, they don’t want to buy things that are old – they have to be before the trend or on it,” said Dykes. “The thing we’re not delusional about is we know we’re not going to get it right for the first five stores. We’re going to be doing quite a lot of tweaking and changing based on the feedback we get from customers and suppliers. “We’ve got 28 new suppliers and 360 products that you can’t get in at Dick Smith, so although this is a new category, what we’ve done is turn up the attitude on the existing Dick Smith categories.” Move is expected to remain a standalone format, although the option of further new businesses for Dick Smith has not been ruled out. “We’re not considering having Move in any other stores. We’re pretty happy with the customer segments we’re looking at, and we’ve targeted them pretty well. “Thats not to say there might not be another gap we might try and plug in the future – we don’t think everyone is catered to just yet.” Despite being a technology store and having a strong blogger support base, the brand has chosen to focus mainly on traditional bricks and mortar initially. The Move website is non-transactional, with the only item available online being customised smartphone covers. “We have got plans to make the site transactional, but we want to build the experience instore, so we’re intentionally using the website to drive people instore. “The experience when you’re in the store is something that’s different. We’ll probably get to store 10 or so before we have a transactional site,” said Dykes. Bloggers are a bit component of Move’s marketing, as are exclusive collaborations with fashion designers. “The bloggers are credible people with great reach. We took a photo of the first customer at Indooroopilly, put it on Instagram, Didier Cohen shared it, and it went to 70,000 people – that’s the power of social media, and we’ve embraced it. “We’re really trying to turn up our credentials on fashion. I think we have credentials on hardware, the fact you have Bose, Bang & Olufsen, Samsung, and Apple in your store gives you credibility, but we need to develop more credentials from a fashion accessory point of view.” At launch, Move sold exclusive Romance Was Born branded smartphone covers and bags, with Dion Lee having designed the latest limited edition collection instore. Staff also have a slant towards fashion. “Initially we recruited people with a fashion background, and what we are very quickly learning is that is good thing, but they have to be really interested in product, because people just expect you to know a lot about the technical aspects of what you sell.”