Kmart Opens First K Home Store at Box Hill South on June 18
Kmart will open its first standalone k home store at Box Hill South in Melbourne’s east on June 18, a trial that pushes more of its home range into a separate physical format. The store will use larger furniture, curated displays and room-based inspiration, giving shoppers a different way to browse items not found in regular Kmart outlets.
Callum Smith on K Home
“K Home at Box Hill South gives us the opportunity to bring more of our home range into store and better understand how customers want to shop it,” Kmart chief commercial officer Callum Smith said. “The space has been designed differently from a traditional Kmart store, with a more immersive home environment, curated displays and room-based inspiration to help customers explore the range in a more intuitive way.”
“Customers have embraced Kmart’s home range for many years, and we’ve continued to grow our furniture offer as customer demand has grown,” Smith said. “At a time when value matters more than ever, this trial is about helping Australian families create a home they love at a price they can afford.”
Box Hill South Trial Range
The majority of items in the K Home store will not be available from regular Kmart outlets. That makes the Box Hill South site more than a standard extension of the chain’s existing floor space; it is a test of whether furniture and larger homewares can live in a dedicated format rather than inside a general discount store.
The format also shifts the shopping process. Larger furniture, curated displays and room-based inspiration are intended to show how products work together, not just sit on shelves. For customers who already buy Kmart home products, the trial concentrates those items in one place and adds stock that regular stores will not carry.
Beckwith Sees Wider Rivalry
Jake Beckwith, a Colliers commercial agent, said K Home was more likely to compete with Ikea, Amart Furniture and Freedom than Spotlight. “Absolutely, Kmart’s got their own iconic brand that they work with, and Anko is a bit of a cult figure,” he said. “Everyone looks for those Kmart hacks online, so I think they’ve definitely got a big target audience that they can capture.”
“They’re a really good retailer, a really powerful retailer,” Beckwith said. He added that Kmart’s ability to refresh products quickly and pick the right locations would be critical if the concept expanded, a reminder that the Box Hill South trial is not just about one store opening but about whether the format can travel.
If the June 18 opening draws the kind of home shopper Kmart is targeting, the chain will have a clearer read on whether its home business can stand apart from the main store and compete on a bigger furniture stage.
