Anaconda (retailer)

Anaconda, listed as The Trustee for Anaconda Unit Trust in the Australian Business Register[2] and Dun and Bradstreet,[3] is one of several retail businesses comprising the Spotlight Group family of stores. It is an outdoor adventure and sporting goods retailer exclusive to Australia.[4]

The interior of an Anaconda store in Canberra

They offer 436 brands.[5] One of those listed is Mountain Designs, a competitor for Anaconda in 2007[6] and originally based in Brisbane that Spotlight acquired on May 3, 2018.[7][8][9]

Another former competitor that is listed as a brand on Anaconda's extensive list is Gondwana Outdoor, listed as just Gondwana on Anaconda's site. The company stopped selling through their website sometime between February 4, 2017[10] and February 18, 2017.[11] Gondwana also actively encouraged its customers to show them what they did on outdoor adventures, hosting the Inspiring Gippsland Walks competition in 2010.[12] They were also a partner with Bush Heritage in 2009, donating $1.50 from the sale of each item containing recycled fleece.[13]

Gondwana directed customers to Rainbird Clothing's website when they closed their online portal. Rainbird is another brand Anaconda sells, though the parent company for both, Textile House,[14] still appears to be in business as a separate entity.[15][16] Gondwana is listed under "The Trustee for Summit Outdoor Clothing Trust" in Dun and Bradstreet[17] and the Australian Business Register.[18] It is unclear as to whether Spotlight Group acquired these brands as they did Mountain Designs.

In 2010, nearly six years after the company's founding, Anaconda only had 19 locations nationally.[19] As of May 2023, there are 78 locations across the country.[20] Despite fifteen to twenty percent of Spotlight Group's sales revenue resulting from online sales, the conglomerate continues to pursue opportunities to open physical locations for their various brands.[21]

The first large-format store opened in Sydney in July 2022. Spotlight Group continued to focus on property and physical locations, using interactive experiences to draw customers to physical locations.[22]

In March 2023, the Bundaberg Regional Council approved a measure that allows for Anaconda to construct a store in the Fantastic Furniture and OMF complex, the twenty-first location for Anaconda in Queensland.[23]

Keeping the idea of an immersive shopping experience, CEO Chris Lude has announced plans for an Anaconda Adventure HQ to be opened in Brendale in 2025. It will not only provide the usual retail experience, but will also include what Lude is touting as the world's first barramundi fishing dam inside the complex property. He expects this feature to attract shoppers not only across Australia, but to increase the number of tourists venturing to the Moreton Bay region.[24] The Moreton Bay Regional Council approved construction in August 2022.[25]

ZoomInfo lists Anaconda as the second largest outdoor goods retail employer in Australia with 1200 employees and a revenue of $760million annually.[26]

The company has outlets in Western Australia,[27] Victoria,[28] the Northern Territory,[29] Nowra,[30][31] Brisbane,[32] Albion Park,[33] Cannonvale,[34] Rockhampton,[35] and Hervey Bay[36] on Fraser Coast.[37]

Their Adventure Club is unlike the average discount membership program. They not only offer member-only discounts, but also offer nights where the stores are only open to members of the club and occasionally hold competitions and giveaways that only members can enter. In 2008,[38] 2009,[39] and 2010,[40] the company hosted the Anaconda Adventure Racing Series in Western Australia, increasing 'adventure tourism'.[41] As of July 2023, membership in the program is free. Spotlight credits the program as "fundamental to Anaconda's success."[4]

Anaconda received recognition for their store design and concept in 2023, making the list of finalists,[42] though the award for the category went to BCF.[43]

However, Anaconda did not score well on the annual Ethical Fashion Report in 2022, which assessed 581 brands. Alongside Harris Scarfe and Mountain Designs, also owned by Spotlight, Anaconda received a score of 1/100.[44]