Telstra to Take Full Ownership of Australian Retail Store Network
February 10 2021 - 5:34PM
Dow Jones News
By Stuart Condie
SYDNEY--Telstra Corp. Ltd. will take full ownership of its
retail store network in Australia, saying the Covid-19 pandemic had
shown the value of integrating its physical and digital
services.
Australia's largest communications provider on Thursday said it
will begin talks with ASX-listed Vita Group Ltd., which operates
104 of 337 Telstra-branded stores. Telstra already owns and
operates 67 stores, with another 166 run by licensees.
With retail stores closed or underused during coronavirus
lockdowns, Telstra said it had been able to redeploy staff from
Telstra-owned stores to assist customers through digital channels
or over the phone.
"It's this flexibility in how we serve our customers that we'll
be able to unlock with more retail branded stores under Telstra
ownership," said Michael Ackland, Telstra's Group Executive for
Consumer and Small Business.
Telstra said it planned to transition the majority of staff from
licensed stores to company employment, but did not say how many
jobs would be affected.
Write to Stuart Condie at stuart.condie@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 10, 2021 17:19 ET (22:19 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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