pansion included its third store in Australia in Melbourne at Emporium. The rollout was a combination of  seven multi-brand stores, eight store in stores, and four company-owned stores. Between January and September 2014, Marimekko Group’s net sales fell by one per cent relative to the same period last year to €68.1 million. Net sales in the Asia Pacific region rose in the same period by one per cent, with Australian retail sales growing three per cent year on year. Tiina Alahuhta-Kasko, who was appointed to the newly created role of COO from CMO in August 2014, told Inside Retail PREMIUM that e-commerce is a possibility for the Australian market. Marimekko relaunched in Australia two years ago following the opening of its first company-owned store  flagship store on George St in Sydney’s CBD. Months later in 2012, the lifestyle brand opened its second boutique on Chapel St, Melbourne. While Marimekko opened its third company-owned boutique at Emporium last year, George St remains the group’s only Australian flagship. “We’re exploring what the best options will be from a functional and financial point of view. At the same time we’re also creating a global roadmap for e-commerce for Marimekko, so it’s part of a big exploration,” Alahuhta-Kasko said. “We haven’t set a detailed time frame in Australia for e-commerce, but it’s something that we definitely want to see happen in this market in order to grow a truly omni-channel experience for our customers.” Marimekko has continued to build its support team in Australia and is weighing its options for more store in store concepts, possibly with major department stores. “In many of the other key markets we do have shop in shops, especially within the home categories, so it definitely could be an option,” Alahuhta-Kasko said. This story first appeared in Inside Retail PREMIUM issue 2032. To subscribe, click here.