ent store Myer. As part of the consolidation process, the business closed two underperforming boutiques in Sydney last year. Another two stores remain in Sydney, with three more in WA and one each in both Melbourne and Adelaide. “We needed to get our business back on track after the financial crisis. We went through a transition where we really needed to take the bull by the horns,” Poulson said. “We’ve made these changes to ensure that the business was going to be okay going forward.” The womenswear chain has reduced its pricepoints, relocated its head office, and invested heavily in its online platform, with a new site to launch next month. “We’ve improved our customer service, stores, and we’ve built a new online store that will go live next month. “We’ve got a strong online business at the moment, but [the website] is quite old and it’s difficult to use.” Poulson says the company has no aggressive plans for expansion, but may open an eighth store next year. “Once we have bedded down all these changes and we can see the rewards coming through I think it will be time to make some decisions about expansion. “We’ll probably open another store next year, but we don’t have aggressive plans to open stores seeing we closed two last year.” Despite downsizing the store network, and the increasing competition of online fashion retailers, Poulson says online will never overtake the traditional retail experience. “I don’t think retail is going anywhere. People still want to be able to go into a store and have the experience, be recognised by staff, as well as be able to  feel and touch. “It’s all about that excitement, it’s easy enough to shop online, but to be able to go have a coffee, and have a good look at something and try it on is more important, and that’s why online is never going to overtake [traditional] retail.”