Sussan Group CEO Naomi Milgrom says no more bricks and mortar

Australian retail needs to reinvent the shopping centre, prepare for more of the world’s biggest retailers setting up here, and bridge the gap between bricks and mortar and the “mindblowing” experience of online, says the boss of Australia’s largest privately held specialty fashion retailer.

Naomi Milgrom is the owner, chair and chief executive of the Sussan Group, which owns the Sportsgirl, Sussan and Suzanne Grae brands, and is one of Australia’s richest women.

She said Australian retailers needed swift change as the falling dollar lifts import prices, newly arrived international retailers take market share, and amid gloomy predictions about the future of US shopping centres. With more than 500 stores, Milgrom said she didn’t want to open any more.