Meryl Swanson no new study on Harvey Norman

That would be the store operated by her husband, Nick, who has run Harvey Norman franchises for the better part of three decades. His current store is in Maitland, and as his LinkedIn notes, it’s extraordinarily successful, regularly being one of the top 30 performing stores nationwide.

Nick Swanson’s LinkedIn also reveals his founding and past ownership (from August 2002 to November 2005) of cafe Delish, which operated at the Erina Harvey Norman. “There was an opportunity to open up a new cafe from scratch on the Harvey Norman site,” he wrote. “Gerry Harvey and [Harvey Norman CEO and Harvey’s wife] Katie Page were keen to have a solution for customers … to get food on site.

“Meryl and I approached Katie and put a proposal to her.” And the rest, as they say, is history.

Aside from past business dealings initiated directly with Harvey Norman’s top brass, Meryl Swanson also holds Harvey Norman shares directly. Giving her at least some exposure to the $3 million in JobKeeper subsidies Harvey Norman head office banked in FY20.

As for Harvey Norman’s franchisees, they benefited to the tune of $7.6 million from JobKeeper in financial 2020 (the total figure is likely closer to $15 million, but that won’t be confirmed until Harvey Norman’s next accounts). But we’re assured, through Swanson’s Labor colleague and JobKeeper waste crusader Andrew Leigh no less, that the Maitland store wasn’t one of them.