Australia's peak retail body, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA), continues to grow and welcomes members from the Australian Association of Floral Designers (AAFD) in their recent merger with the ARA.
ARA CEO Paul Zahra said the new members will benefit from the powerful national resources of the industry's largest and most established retail body to take its representation to the next level.
"We warmly welcome AAFD members to the ARA family and look forward to offering them the significant benefits of our national network of resources," he said.
"Whist we are not the only retail association in Australia, we are the oldest, largest and most diverse industry association with a reenergised sense of community and industry support.
"We represent all retailers from hairdressing to hardware, fashion, food, floristry - and everything in between.
"Although the AAFD has a strong history of more than 45 years in advocating on behalf of their members at the state and federal levels, the ARA has long been a supporter of achieving a single, strong and unified voice to represent the retail community."
Members from the AAFD now join the previous members of the Hair and Beauty Industry Association (HBIA) and National Footwear Retailers Association (NFRA) under the ARA banner.
Our new members will have access to the ARA's suite of member benefits, including support services covering employment law, insurance, leasing, legal and other benefits through the ARA's network of partners.
"Our new members will be well represented in the post-Covid recovery and have all the support they need not only to survive but to thrive well into the future," said Mr Zahra.
Gregory Milner, President of the AAFD, believes this merger with the ARA will assist in amplifying the florist industry's voice on important issues that affect AAFD members.
"The new relationship between the AAFD and the ARA will ensure that florists have a stronger voice on the matters that are of importance to the industry and also provide our members access to greater resources and services simply not available elsewhere" Mr Milner said.
