After a 40-year career in retailing, Barry Saunders was ready to hit the ski fields and tend his grape vines in the Yarra Valley when he stepped down as managing director of The Reject Shop in 2007.
Soon after retiring, the former Myer, Target, BIG W and Pacific Brands executive got a call from a group of investors seeking his help turning around a 30-year old baby goods business, Baby Bunting. Mr Saunders hadn’t changed a nappy in years but the grandfather-of-four was intrigued.
Seven years later, the 74-year-old is now executive chairman and a 5 percent shareholder in Baby Bunting, which is looking at raising between AUD50 million (USD37.6m) and AUD70 million in an initial public offer to fund the next stage of growth after a series of raisings over the last few years.
(Source: The Sydney Morning Herald Online )