Frontline Milestones

Frontline Stores Australia Limited Head Office, Canterbury, VIC

HAPPY 90TH BIRTHDAY FRONTLINE STORES

In September this year Frontline Stores celebrated its 90th birthday. Therefore, we would like to share the history of how our Group was founded. In 1931 four Victorian Country Merchants banded together to form Newtorian Merchants Pty Ltd. The four founders of the Group were WJ Gorman (Yarrawonga), WJ Bowring (Mildura), GM Hawthorne (Kerang) and FAJ Langlands (Horsham). They appointed Hartley & Turner in Moorabbin to be the managing agents, which would last until 1984. The ensuing 30 years from 1931 to 1961, were to see the membership grow from 4 to 27, with the Group’s makeup continuing to be dominated by Victorian country stores. As the stores were predominantly departmental, the activities of Newtorian Merchants revolved around promotional merchandise and catalogues, together with negotiation on behalf of members for “special best buy items”. The years from 1962 to 1974 saw the Group expand into other states, with a total membership in 1974 of 41. From late 1974 the direction of the Group began to change, with Newtorian Merchants becoming involved in importing to provide exclusive promotional merchandise for its Members. Prior to this time, promotional merchandise had been obtained through local Australian manufacturers and importers. As a result of this, Newtorian Merchants was regarded as an importer, therefore it was decided that a new body be created, Quantity Merchandise Buyers Pty Ltd (QMB). The basic philosophy of this company was different in that it extended the membership base to include specialty stores such as Menswear, Ladieswear & Manchester. It created purchasing relationships between Members and Suppliers, which resulted in preferential discounts to Member stores for bulk buys of merchandise. These relationships resulted in the term “Preferred Suppliers”, which we use today. Toward the end of 1984 membership participation and growth continued in both companies. However, the retail mergers and takeovers which had begun in earnest in 1982, started to erode the importance of the importing function, together with the membership base of Newtorian Merchants. Despite these setbacks, by late 1984 the Group had an involvement with some 190 stores. With the move in the membership base away from departmental stores, and the subsequent declining relevance of importing, there was an opportunity to create an independently run group. In what were very uncertain times, the Directors seized that opportunity and through the sale of import quotas, raised sufficient capital to finance an operation independent of Hartley & Turner. In order to protect all parties, it was decided that both Newtorian Merchants & QMB would be incorporated in a new company, thus Frontline Stores Pty Ltd was formed. The company began operation at its premises in Hartwell in January 1985. From 1985, the membership and turnover of Frontline Stores continued to grow beyond all expectations. The Association of many hundreds of retailers had established itself as a major buying force. In 1986 it became clear that the continued operation of three companies, Newtorian Merchants, QMB and Frontline Stores Pty Ltd was unduly cumbersome and expensive to maintain. Therefore, the Directors decided to create a new company Frontline Stores Australia Limited and liquidate the other three companies. We continue to serve members and suppliers from our current premises in Canterbury, where our membership numbers are over 600.

“It is our business to make your business succeed.”

MILLION DOLLAR CLUB

CAROLINE K MORGAN

Frontline Stores welcomes CAROLINE K MORGAN to our MILLION DOLLAR CLUB!

We wish to congratulate Raja, Shankar and the team from Caroline K Morgan for their ongoing support to our Frontline Members.

Joining Frontline as a Preferred Supplier in 2004, we have watched as their sales have increased over the years. Being part of the MILLION-DOLLAR CLUB is a remarkable achievement, particularly as they supply all states except WA (due to a long-standing relationship they have with their WA distributor).

CKM believe in innovation, ongoing research & development – and staying on trend with the latest fashions, while upholding ethical practices. Over the next 3 years CKM are moving towards becoming a sustainable wholesaler. Their primary focus is “to adopt repurposing practices and the use of recycled fabrication. We ensure that all our paper and cardboard waste from all our offices, warehouses and distribution centres is recycled. At CKM, we have completely eliminated the use of hard plastics and all non-recyclable packaging materials throughout our supply chain and are working towards becoming 100% plastic free and reducing carbon footprint.” You can rest assured that this fashion house is doing their part to be further environmentally conscious and sound.

CKM are known for building exceptional customer relationships and a trusted trade partner (which many of you would attest to). Specialists in denim, knitwear, vegan leather and loungewear; bringing the catwalk & highstreet looks to the everyday consumer at a fraction of the price; targeting the savvy 18-50 yearold.

At the height of winter, you can trust CKM for the most on trend shapes in knitwear in the warmest & softest yarns, in the latest colours of course! Team these back with denim, joggers, leggings or jeggings. Not to mention dresses, skirts, pants and tops in winter hues, with jackets to layer.

In summer, the ranges consist of very vast shapes, bright prints & flowing fabrics; dresses and skirts in varying lengths (maxis, midi and mini), jumpsuits, play suits, and prints to mimic the brightness and lightness of the season, along with their staple, denim.

A fabulous point of difference, is the Reversible Denim range and Hand Loomed Linen range (made in Italy). Because who wouldn’t love to make the most of their clothing! With a curated range of reversible denim pants, skirts and jackets, your customer can now get both looks – staple and statement with just one piece! CKM are also great supporters of our FAB-Events, always in attendance and with a very busy stand. They will be exhibiting again at the upcoming February 2022 FAB-Event – so make sure you stop in and say hello as you peruse and buy from their ranges.

Being local for the last 43 years, they have established a family of stockists across Australia and beyond. Their local team provides friendly assistance and expertise in design, sourcing, fabrication, packaging, and delivery, in additional to their white label services tailored to meet your business goals.

At the core, their ethos is “it is our business to make your business succeed.”