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

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#2608095 21-Nov-2020 20:33

Interesting that Van Dykes is expanding...

I did see a re-branded Smiths City from the outside today - it's a tough ask to re-brand a business in the North Island that no one knew existed to begin with!

antonknee

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#2608119 21-Nov-2020 21:08

GregV:

@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.

That’s very interesting, Van Dyk’s must be doing well. I was always a little surprised at how much smaller that store seemed than their old premises in town. That’ll be quite a big store in the end. Also wonder what will take their place on the other side where they are now.

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#2628369 31-Dec-2020 09:42

Speaking of Dick Smith...

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/123831716/customers-cry-foul-after-waiting-months-for-items-from-dick-smith

freitasm

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#2628377 31-Dec-2020 10:12

No surprises there. People will get confused with that website.

Advice: never buy from Dick Smith.

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#2628380 31-Dec-2020 10:15

freitasm:

Advice: never buy from Dick Smith.

And that advice sadly hangs over Mighty Ape now that the owners of Dick Smith have also taken over the Online Monkey's @ M.Ape.

Out of interest, I went into Smiths City Colombo in Chch and the layout was really quite nice with a quality fitout.

The AV + computer gear was up on the mezzanine, with white goods etc down on the ground floor.

There weren't any customers though... on Christmas Eve!

The range is still limited with notable absences from brands like Sonos / Apple (for the most part... no desktops or laptops / Bose / Sony etc.

quickymart

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#2628392 31-Dec-2020 10:42

If it's such a nice shop there, leads me to ask the question why they don't have any customers?

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#2628394 31-Dec-2020 10:49

quickymart:

Speaking of Dick Smith...

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/123831716/customers-cry-foul-after-waiting-months-for-items-from-dick-smith

Interesting! I returned an underperforming $500 LED Projector to Kogan. Had to chance them for a status update twice before they said they would initiate a refund. I then had to chase them twice before the refund was processed. Simple emails were all that was required (and I received replies within 24 hours each time), but it was still annoying.

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neb

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#2628398 31-Dec-2020 11:15

Dunnersfella:
And that advice sadly hangs over Mighty Ape now that the owners of Dick Smith have also taken over the Online Monkey's @ M.Ape.

You can buy things from MightyApe? I just thought it was a clickbait site for Google searches where everything is listed but nothing is ever in stock.

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#2628401 31-Dec-2020 11:19

quickymart:

Speaking of Dick Smith...

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/123831716/customers-cry-foul-after-waiting-months-for-items-from-dick-smith

What really annoys me with that article is people buying from an online company and then whining that they have to email them and cant call them. Hello? That is the whole point of operating online.

But yeah, they need to handle their refunds when things dont arrive in time better. Also no mention of their IMO illegal offering of shipping insurance or whatever they have renamed it to now.

Richard rich.ms

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#2628505 31-Dec-2020 12:24

neb:
Dunnersfella:

And that advice sadly hangs over Mighty Ape now that the owners of Dick Smith have also taken over the Online Monkey's @ M.Ape.

You can buy things from MightyApe? I just thought it was a clickbait site for Google searches where everything is listed but nothing is ever in stock.

Good try. I buy stuff from them and I am sometimes surprised - for example bought a vertical laptop stand (the guy at PB Tech looked at me like I was crazy when I asked for it in store a couple of weeks ago). Order placed on the 19th evening, and despite their site saying "delivery first week of January" (stock with supplier) the item was delivered here yesterday, almost ten days ahead of the initial date.

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#2628506 31-Dec-2020 12:28

freitasm:

Good try. I buy stuff from them and I am sometimes surprised - for example bought a vertical laptop stand (the guy at PB Tech looked at me like I was crazy when I asked for it in store a couple of weeks ago). Order placed on the 19th evening, and despite their site saying "delivery first week of January" (stock with supplier) the item was delivered here yesterday, almost ten days ahead of the initial date.

When you google for products, it seems that out of stock pages at mighty ape feature very highly in search results. Searching the same thing on mighty ape gets no results at all, so they are still providing the page for an item they dont have to google when they reindex it instead of a not found. Therefore they are polluting google search results with things they cant supply.

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#2628508 31-Dec-2020 12:32

Google search results don't disappear instantly. It could be some days or weeks until it disappears... I wouldn't blame a supplier too fast for Google's failings.

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#2628510 31-Dec-2020 12:33

freitasm:

Google search results don't disappear instantly. It could be some days or weeks until it disappears... I wouldn't blame a supplier too fast for Google's failings.

These were things that have been out of stock for months to years when I was looking for parts for an old case last time.

Richard rich.ms

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#2628529 31-Dec-2020 14:23

Strange I use DuckDuckGo and I rarely see Mighty Ape in my search results. Mighty Ape is (was?) pretty good tho for deliveries--but I'm probably going to look elsewhere now they have new owners.

Dunnersfella

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#2628533 31-Dec-2020 14:38

quickymart:

If it's such a nice shop there, leads me to ask the question why they don't have any customers?

The answer will almost certainly be reputation AND it takes years upon years for customers to change shopping habits when visiting bricks 'n mortar stores. People will drive 15 k's happily, by-passing two other stores in the same chain to shop where they have always gone... humans are funny things.

In the case of the Colombo precinct, that was always a Spotlight location and the Colombo flagship store is only a few k's down the road. It's a nice store, sure, but the location baffles me!

Regarding Mighty Ape - they hold a LOT of stock. Has anyone seen their warehouse in Silverdale? I don't know of a single warehouse that would rival it in the on-line retail space... it truly is massive. Sure you could combine warehouses for chain stores etc, but it is genuinely impressive.

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