Anko: The story behind the cult Kmart brand

Thursday, 14 September 2023

Kmart’s own brand Anko has a huge following on both sides of the Tasman. (File photo)

Kmart’s own-brand products regularly gain cult status.

There was the $99 Anko coffee machine that outperformed a $4500 espresso machine, and the $199 cubby house kids and adults alike clamoured for.

The brand’s rising popularity may be partly due to Instagram and TikTok, where fans are quick to share their favourite items and the sometimes unconventional ways they put them to use.

But what even is Anko? Where does it come from, and who’s behind it?

It sounds like a made up word. Does Anko mean anything?

No one is using these tea towels on dishes. (Video first published October 4, 2019)

A couple of things, actually.

As well as being an acronym for “A New Kind Of”, the name is also an abbreviation of Kmart’s previous “&Co” branding.

In 2018 Kmart announced it would stop branding its products by department and streamline them under a single name.

“Anko is an evolution of our existing ‘&Co’ brands: Home&Co, Kids&Co, Clothing&Co and Active&Co,” the company said at the time.

“We’ve used ‘k’ in the name to pay homage to where it all started – Kmart Australia.”

Kmart products have been sold under the Anko banner since 2019.

Is it just a label Kmart whacks on externally sourced products?

Yes and no. According to a Kmart spokesperson, Anko is the company’s own brand and product development arm.

“[Anko] has a unique business model as an Australian design-based product development company,” she said.

But while the design and buying side of things happens in-house, most of Kmart’s cult products are made in China, India and Bangladesh.

OK, so if it’s Kmart’s own brand, is it only sold at Kmart?

Heck no.

Although it was originally exclusive to Kmart, things have really taken off for the Anko brand this year.

Originally exclusive to Kmart, Anko products are now sold in Canada, India and several other countries. (File photo)

It’s expanded into Canada and India, and parent company Wesfarmers has a plan to stock some items in its Target stores in Australia as well.

Anko is also sold in Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Singapore and the Philippines.

Wow. It sounds way bigger than I thought.

Yeah, the whole Anko machine probably is.

More than one billion Anko products are sold each year, and the Kmart Group last month reported annual revenue of AU$10.6 billion (NZ$11.5b), up 16.5%.

And as well as the product development arm, there’s the Anko Global Capability Centre, based in Bangalore, India.

The team there works on technology, data sciences and businesses services to support Kmart and Target.