By NOEL MURPHY
CLOTHING giant Cotton On expects to create 151 new jobs in its Geelong head office next year.
The retailer, with more than 1300 stores around the world and 760 in Australia, also plans to open another 570 shops over the next three years as it extends its global reach.
Cotton On Group (COG) wants to lift online trading to $250 million a year and achieve total sales of $1.5 billion in 2015.
Spokesperson Bridget Connor told the Independent the new Geelong jobs would cover a variety of departments.
“In terms of the 570 new stores, the count will come primarily from expanding in our existing markets. Internationally, Brazil and South Africa will continue to be key regions of focus for us.
“The coming weeks will also see us expand into a new country with the opening of our first store in Namibia.”
Cotton On boss Nigel Austin, estimated as worth $295 million in BRW’s list of Australia’s 200 wealthiest people, recently broke with a tradition of silence to speak with the financial media about the group’s fortunes.
Founded in 1991, the company has stores in 16 countries including the US, South Africa, United Arab Emirates, Germany, Brazil and China.
The group employs 19,000 people and heads Cotton On Foundation philanthroipic groups.
The company has been building its own Cotton On Group Uni in a collaboration with Deakin University that provides a “four-module learning platform”.
The latest revelations of Cotton On’s plans follow recent criticism for a company code of conduct that insists staff “keep it real’’.
