Costco to deliver in Melbourne … Smiggle and Peter Alexander power Premier Investments … Schaper to step down from ACCC role

Discount retailer Costco is offering businesses close to its Melbourne warehouse the chance to experience delivery for the first time.

The service will be available to business customers within a 10 kilometre radius of the Docklands store, and will allow restaurants and pubs to place orders of $1000 value or more, reports The Australian.

Last month Costco Australia’s chief executive, Patrick Noone, announced the business was planning on opening an online store within the next 12 to 18 months.

Smiggle and Peter Alexander shine for Solomon Lew

Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments Group has reported a net profit after tax of $105.1 million, once again breaking through the billion-dollar sales mark despite weakness in women’s fashion brands Portmans and Dotti.

However, sales growth at pyjama imprint Peter Alexander and stationery chain Smiggle powered the group’s sales growth, while online sales were up 44% to $68 million for 2017.

The company has announced a goal to grow the Smiggle brand to $400 million in sales by 2020, with plans to enter the continental European market by the middle of next year.

Schaper steps down from small biz ACCC role

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission deputy commissioner Michael Schaper will reportedly be stepping down from his post in 2018, after nine years in the job.

The Australian reports the government is considering replacements for Schaper, who worked as small business commissioner at the ACCC for close to a decade. Potential successors are said to include Victorian Small Business Commissioner Geoff Brown and Professor Jenny Buchan from the University of New South Wales.

Schaper has worked on a number of initiatives throughout his tenure, including the recent introduction of new unfair contract laws for standard form agreements covering small businesses.

Never miss a story: sign up to SmartCompany’s free daily newsletter and find our best stories on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.