Marquee Retail Group chairman Bernie Brookes has offered up to 35% equity share to senior executives as he scales the newly formed business.
Brookes said incentivising leadership is a powerful strategy in building a successful enterprise.
“I'd rather own 50% of a company making $5 million profit instead of 100% of a company making a nominal profit,” Brookes said. “And effectively that incentivises the management team significantly.
“Sure enough, the two CEOs that run Marquee - Anthony Coelho and Marianne Jones - have done a fantastic job; my job has been watching and monitoring the work that they've done.”
In one particular example, Brookes said the two CEOs have reduced the reliance on promotions.
“Reducing the promotions is probably one of the hardest things to do in retail because it's something we've grown quite used to,” he said. “However, we've successfully managed to do that by increasing the newness.
“We now have over 120 new SKUs go into the store every week, which is quite remarkable. When you think about a fast fashion retailer, think about a super-fast. 120 new SKUs and the whole front of store changes every Monday morning.”
Brookes, who is the former CEO of Myer, became a major shareholder of The Daily Edited in December 2022 in a bid to save the company from collapse.
The Daily Edited joined Colette by Colette Hayman in the company, after it was acquired by Brookes and former Myer and Woolworths executive John Skellern in September 2020.