Same as always, well run businesses, with good management and continuing growth. Maybe you have to look a little harder with consumer sentiment currently, but I dont think there is nearly as much 'disruption' as some would have us believe.
Other sectors have different hazards, its the nature of the game!
Personally I dont worry too much about that sort of macro economic, crystal ball gazing. Its not so long ago the same 'experts' were writing off the mining and mining services sector, no one was predicting the turn around we have seen in the last 6 months or so.
None the less, your strong viewpoint on retail has made me revisit my analysis for the retailers that I hold and consider how well positioned they are to face the challenges of low growth and growing online competition. That is one of the advantages of the variety of opinions on ASF, it helps inform ones decision making process and encourages challenging my biases!
In the case of RCG I do feel that shoes are much less at risk of loss of market share to online retail and are also less discretionary than a lot of other retail products. Financially it has been a good business for my SMSF, delivering nearly 100% increase in SP and gross dividends of nearly 25% in the 2 years I have held - it would need to be a compelling case to make me think my money would be better somewhere else!
I bought this in '09, sold just after the Accent Group acquisition. Management are definitely talented, but don't forget this is not the company it used to be.
Their Wholesaling division had a currency tailwind (stronger AUD, helping with imports), and they had net cash. Further, the TAF business is largely a franchise model, so they just take a percentage of revenue, with minimal downside risk (e.g. no capital at risk).
Now, they have a significant debt load for a retailer, and any benefits from currency are reversing (not that I'm forecasting AUDUSD rates, only stating what has happened to date).
Having looked into it, I don't think one should expect higher sales from store maturity as you would in say a furniture retailer (Nick Scali as an example), especially from something like HypeDC. Simply witness the opening of a HypeDC store, which usually coincides with the release of some form of limited edition shoes, and you can see the 100 person queue to buy some ridiculously overpriced Nike invention (or similar)
As for Accent Group, it's is still doing very, very nicely, and would be the basis for any purchase I make in this company. 20% LFL (targeted 7% for the year) plus increasing GP margins make it attractive.
"Financially it has been a good business for my SMSF, delivering nearly 100% increase in SP and gross dividends of nearly 25% in the 2 years I have held"
If the business valuation hasn't moved in line with the SP increase (100% in 2 years is a big ask), then this is an argument against holding, all else being equal.