Smiths City - will it be the next 'Dick Smith'?

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#2581646 8-Oct-2020 21:36

I have a feeling they will be scaling back a lot of stores as soon as they can -they've closed a number already, probably only just a matter of time.

@Rikkitic there's none near me now, so maybe you can answer this question for me; does all their furniture still look like it comes from the 1970s?

Stu1

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#2581722 9-Oct-2020 07:23

quickymart:

I have a feeling they will be scaling back a lot of stores as soon as they can -they've closed a number already, probably only just a matter of time.

@Rikkitic there's none near me now, so maybe you can answer this question for me; does all their furniture still look like it comes from the 1970s?

There seems to be a trend everywhere now the sofas and chairs have skinny legs very 70s style. I really prefer chunky square legs on sofas with kids jumping all over them We are updating our funiture around the house we have brought a couple of coast wood items from smith’s city before they closed which were great, when the local shop closed we just ordered from the factory direct. We didn’t know we could do that until we rang them . Coastwood is a good NZ brand with 25 years warranty which is good

dafman

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#2581746 9-Oct-2020 08:38

quickymart:

@Rikkitic there's none near me now, so maybe you can answer this question for me; does all their furniture still look like it comes from the 1970s?

Hope not, we bought some (-;

Rikkitic

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#2581790 9-Oct-2020 09:54

I can't comment on the furniture as I didn't even look at it.

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Dunnersfella

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#2581855 9-Oct-2020 11:29

cshwone: They're just about to open a new store in Masterton in the old Stationary Warehouse which consolidated into the Red Shed

Small towns like that are normally dominated by local retailers who run 100% type stores.

Smith's City will simply be another big empty box I fear...

Wakrak

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#2583825 13-Oct-2020 18:54

On a similar note, OfficeMax in Hamilton is closing down. More emphasis on their online store. Unsure if other stores around the country will follow suit.

Edit Nevermind. Just found an article stating that OfficeMax is shutting down all retail stores.

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everettpsycho

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#2583892 13-Oct-2020 20:13

quickymart:
I have a feeling they will be scaling back a lot of stores as soon as they can -they've closed a number already, probably only just a matter of time.

@Rikkitic there's none near me now, so maybe you can answer this question for me; does all their furniture still look like it comes from the 1970s?

The weirdest decision is they are currently fitting out a new store in Christchurch, it's going in the Colombo mall where spotlight used to be. So they are opening a new store less than a kilometre away on the same street as the old one that is not closing. I'm assuming they are planning to shut the CBD one when the lease is up freeing up a big unit right in the middle of town. Never know might free up just in time for that IKEA 😂

I just don't see what Smith's city USP is, they aren't cheap, they aren't fancy and I don't really know who they are targeting. It's always dead in there so I'm not surprised, I've only ever purchased a few items from then and they've all been well below full price usually on clearance. For us we tend to find we can buy cheaper or better elsewhere, I can't see much of a market for being the middle of the road retailer.

quickymart

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#2584091 14-Oct-2020 08:55

I think they're from a time when there weren't that many retailers selling furniture. A bit like Sky, they changed nothing for years and years and now (to a lot of people) are sort of like digital dinosaurs, constantly behind and only now playing catch-up. I feel like Smith's City is in a similar boat - they did great before Harvey Norman, etc really started spreading out across the country.

MikeAqua

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#2584185 14-Oct-2020 10:36

The Smith's City in Blenheim has rebranded recently as Smith's with a new dark brown paint job. I haven't been in.

I did glimpse some modern looking scandi inspired furniture through the window.

Mike

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#2584479 14-Oct-2020 19:18

Smiths City do have some decent online deals now and then. They usually change their sale items on a Tuesday / Wednesday. Great store to use in a pricematch with Bunnings or Briscoes.

- The Remington Rapid Cut Turbo Hair Clipper at $69 a while ago which I pricematched via Briscoes for another 10% off.

- Varta rechargeable batteries 4 pack down to $10.99 some weeks, pricematch through Bunnings for another 15% off.

Tend to have 1-3 good deals a week. The rest are meh.

antonknee

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#2593261 29-Oct-2020 13:19

RNZ article discussing the rebrand. Thought this was interesting:

"We are de-emphasising the 'city' from the brand in recognition of everything we are not. We are not big 'city'. Our most successful stores are not big city, they are regional heartland New Zealand."

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quickymart

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#2593700 29-Oct-2020 22:30

The name has a lot of history and heritage however - I know a lot of people would still be calling it Smiths City, for a long time yet. Hell, even their own advertising shows quite elderly people talking about how long they've been shopping there for.

quickymart

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#2599575 7-Nov-2020 17:55

https://www.smithscity.co.nz/about-smiths-city

Looks like they've all rebranded. I had no idea there were two of them on Colombo Street.

everettpsycho

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#2607235 19-Nov-2020 21:17

quickymart:
https://www.smithscity.co.nz/about-smiths-city

Looks like they've all rebranded. I had no idea there were two of them on Colombo Street.

The second one is where spotlight used to be in the Colombo, we saw it the other day but it can't have been open long. Still not sure why they need two stores so close with the others further out being shut down.

GregV

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#2608004 21-Nov-2020 16:41

antonknee:
GregV:
Rotorua Smiths City has recently halved in size, with a big wall going up in the middle of their formerly-large store.

Off topic but do you know what’s going in the other half by any chance? That was a massive store - ex Mitre 10 and if memory serves they expanded the square footage when they took it over from M10 too.

@antonknee Looks like Van Dyk's is moving into the other half, from just around the corner. Truck was moving furniture in today. Van Dyk's have also expanded into the old Dick Smith and original Cheesecake Shop floor area on that side.

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