)
Super Retail Group (ASX: SUL) has unveiled a five-year strategy to open 110 new stores by 2031, with its Rebel sporting goods brand set to push into regional towns with populations as low as 10,000 as the retailer chases a bigger slice of a potential $65 billion market.
The group, which also operates Supercheap Auto, BCF and Macpac, currently runs 790 stores nationally across its portfolio and plans to grow the network beyond 900 under a transformation program dubbed "Ignite" that was announced today.
Rebel, which holds about 10 per cent of a $13 billion core sports market across 161 stores, has identified more than 50 regional towns as expansion targets.
The brand plans to enter catchments with populations between 10,000 and 50,000, areas where it currently has little or no presence but where existing regional stores already deliver contribution margins 200 basis points higher than the network average.
Super Retail Group points to Rebel's Wodonga store, which generated $6 million in revenue in its first year and is said to be outperforming its business case.
The company describes the plan as a "step change" in growth for Rebel’s store network that will also focus on "doubling down on range optimisation and a relentless focus on ‘owning sport’".
“Our new group strategy puts the customer at the centre of everything we do as we build our business for its next phase of growth," says Super Retail group CEO Paul Bradshaw.
“We are determined to be closer to our customers than ever before - understanding and meeting their needs as they continue to evolve.”
Supercheap Auto is earmarked for significant growth of its own, with its network targeted to expand from 362 stores to 415 by 2031.
The rollout will include a mix of new generation small-format stores of around 450sqm and large-format locations of about 2,000sqm.
The group is also extending BCF’s rollout of superstores, as well as new large-format stores, and unlocking access to the 4WD market through fitment.
In addition to growing the Macpac store network, the goals for the brand include increasing its brand awareness in Australia and a continued focus on technical product innovation.
“Our strategy focuses on building businesses that best serve our customers and their communities through range, store format, brand networks and fitment, and importantly meeting them where and how they shop," says Bradshaw.
“We have launched a significant transformation program to help power this growth. This will require deliberate short-term investments in our systems and unlock a sustainable cost advantage over time.”
Super Retail Group says it currently captures about $4 billion of the $65 billion total addressable market spanning auto, sport and outdoor categories.
The group's 13 million active club members generate 85 per cent of sales, a loyalty base the company views as central to its growth ambitions.
The Ignite program underpinning the strategy will cost $30 million per annum in project expenses over three years and is expected to deliver $75 million per annum in cost savings by FY29.
The investment will be funded within the group's existing capital expenditure envelope of about $150 million per annum.
The strategy update comes as the group navigates a challenging consumer environment.
Super Retail Group reported first-half FY26 sales of $2.2 billion, up 4.2 per cent, but normalised net profit after tax fell 6.8 per cent to $121.9 million.
Last month the company also revealed a sharp slowdown in like-for-like sales growth during the second half due to higher fuel prices, rising interest rates and weakening consumer sentiment.
)
