At a time when retail is under terrible pressure from the impact of 12 rate rises, on top of inflated business costs and higher wages, one Australian brand in the retail space has been taken over by a big private equity firm, which values Zimmerman at a cool $1.75 billion!

Nicky and Simone Zimmerman were always outliers with an eye for creation that always screamed that their brand Zimmerman would do well. Decades ago, Maureen (Jordan) published a book for IBM called Made in Australia that showcased our standout entrepreneurs, and she pinpointed Zimmermans as great business builders of the future.

That said, when Maureen asked me to pen the story for her book, while I could see success, I didn’t really predict the extent of the success that these two sisters were to have. Over time, you’d see Zimmerman outlets grow locally like topsy in all the best shopping precincts in Asia. Then I started noticing them overseas, in key areas in places like Paris. This coincided with Italian-based Style Capital becoming a 70% shareholder in this great manufacturing and retail operation in 2016.

Now private equity group Advent International has acquired that 70%, with Nicky and Simone keeping their 30%, which makes them members of Australia’s rich list. The valuation of Zimmerman underlines how successful many Australian women like Camilla Franks (with her outstanding Camilla brand) have been in the fashion space. And others such as Sass & Bide’s Heidi Middleton and Sarah-Jane Clarke continue to strutt their stuff to compete effectively with big overseas brands.

This good news story for an internationally loved retailer comes as the AFR’s Michael Read reports that experts think 10% of retailers, builders and cafes could go bust. If his story is right, we’re talking a recession and interest rate cuts will be coming sooner than you think. “Research from credit bureau Illion, released to The Australian Financial Review, found that 14 per cent of food services firms, 11 per cent of construction companies and 10 per cent of retailers were at high risk of failing in the coming year,” Read revealed.

This news comes as the NAB business survey showed confidence remains soft, but the big worry was a spike in costs. This is how the CBA Economics team saw the NAB data: “The sharp acceleration in firms’ labour costs the biggest quarterly increase since July 2022 – following the increase in minimum and award wages on July 1, 2023 will be unsettling to policymakers hoping to keep a lid on price pressures,” they explained. “A strong rise in business selling costs – at the fastest quarterly pace since November 2022 and retail prices, suggest that firms are continuing to pass on higher costs to households, exacerbating cost of living pressures.” These cost pressures aren’t good news for the fight against inflation and it puts the RBA in a bind about what it can do about beating down inflation. I argue that enough has been done, especially if this Illion report is right about 10% of businesses looking to be on death row or else looking like they’re going to be really sick in the not-too-distant future. This is a time for enlightened economic policies from both new RBA boss Michelle Bullock and Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

I hope they get it right or we will end up in a recession!