Briscoe Group, which comprises the retail chains Briscoes Homeware and Rebel Sport, is looking to expand, says chief executive Rod Duke.
Duke said it "remains our very firm intention to add another substantial retail chain to our stable of specialty brands".
He said the group had two options: acquisition and/or new start-ups."I can tell you that we are currently considering both options actively."
There is speculation that a potential acquisition target could be Pacific Retail Group's flagship New Zealand stores, including Noel Leeming and Bond & Bond.
At the group's annual meeting on Friday, Briscoe Group's chairwoman, Rosanne Meo, also talked about new acquisitions.
"We have investigated many opportunities and we continue to do so," she said. She admitted some investors might regard the firm's approach as too conservative.
"But let me state for the record, as a board we are very mindful of our duty to shareholders and the need to deliver value,"' she said, without going into specifics, or mentioning the PRG stores.
She said Briscoe would not be pressured into buying something within a set time frame or paying too much for an asset.
"Any purchase we make, or start-up we initiate, will have to be value accretive for shareholders."
Looking at the group's current assets, Duke said there would be a move away from the discount end of the market.
"Discounting is a drug - the more you take, the more you need to take. Retailers, to achieve previous annual growth rates, have to discount even deeper, to keep pace."
He added the group would "wean itself off" its deep-discount strategy, calling the approach unsustainable.
He said there would be fewer, but bigger sale events.
For the three months ended April the group's same-store sales fell 8.9 per cent, compared with the same period last year.
Rebel Sport posted same-store sales of $22 million for the period, down almost 18 per cent, and Briscoes Homeware posted a same-store sales drop of 4.74 per cent and a total $45.2 million in sales.
Duke said the new strategies would take time to have an impact and he expected the profit for the half-year to July to be down on the $9.9 million posted for the same period last year.
