Dick Smith Collapse -What went wrong?

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Sideface

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#1627140 10-Sep-2016 18:46

amiga500:

For at least the last three years of their miserable existence their stores looked run-down, poorly stocked, and generally crappy.

Basically DSE stocked overpriced junk that nobody wanted. Their demise was inevitable.

Anchorage are a textbook example of amoral asset strippers.

Sideface

mattwnz

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#1627150 10-Sep-2016 19:19

Sideface:

amiga500:

For at least the last three years of their miserable existence their stores looked run-down, poorly stocked, and generally crappy.

+1

Basically DSE stocked overpriced junk that nobody wanted. Their demise was inevitable.

When any company you use is sold, you do have to worry about the intention of purchasing it. More often then not I have found when a company has been taken over by a larger company, the service goes downhill, and they lose touch with the products and service that the original company sold. I have found it happen quite a bit in the internet world too.

Fred99

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#1632364 18-Sep-2016 07:51

Article from Australia, reprinted in NZ Herald, re JB Hifi:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11711851

Some disparaging comments made there about the future for smart devices.

langi27

677 posts

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#1632377 18-Sep-2016 09:41

Fred99:

Article from Australia, reprinted in NZ Herald, re JB Hifi:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11711851

Some disparaging comments made there about the future for smart devices.

To be fair, I don't want a oven that can connect to the internet, or a fridge that can tell me when the light blub needs replacing. Heatpumps i can control from a smart phone could be ok but it wont be life changing. Give me a cheap dumb fridge from China and I'll be as happy as I'm ever going to be when buying whiteware.

DarthKermit

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#1632378 18-Sep-2016 09:44

Yeah, some of these tech ideas are a solution looking for a non-existent problem.

1cloud

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#1632380 18-Sep-2016 09:53

sen8or:
A combination of factors for sure -

Private Equity firm who used legal (most likely) but underhanded methods to cook the books of Dick Smiths to make its future earning potential attractive enough to investors to take a gamble at its exorbitant share price issue. When large scale shareholder investment decisions are based on ratios, its not difficult for knowledgeable firms to structure things in such a way that make those ratios look attractive, even though there may be underlying issues elsewhere in the books.

Management too focused on one particular aspect of the business (supplier rebates based on purchasing volumes) rather than customer demand. Trying to be a market leader by pushing stock onto the floors without fully realising the customer demand side of the equation.

Poor market strategy, being neither good enough to compete with the Harvey Normans of this world in terms of brand power / appeal (no high end audio, TVs etc) but not cheap enough to compete against JB Hi Fi / The Warehouse etc at the lower end of the market. Squeezed by both ends into a middle ground that doesn't survive.

I think the article in the NZ Herald this morning summed it up, another private equity firm who was not involved essentially saying they would do the same thing and not feel guilty about it. As much as I hate "rich people bashing", it would be difficult to argue against negative opinions on attitudes been displayed here.

Another good study case for furturer accountants.

Dunnersfella

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#1632391 18-Sep-2016 10:17

langi27:

Fred99:

Article from Australia, reprinted in NZ Herald, re JB Hifi:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11711851

Some disparaging comments made there about the future for smart devices.

To be fair, I don't want a oven that can connect to the internet, or a fridge that can tell me when the light blub needs replacing. Heatpumps i can control from a smart phone could be ok but it wont be life changing. Give me a cheap dumb fridge from China and I'll be as happy as I'm ever going to be when buying whiteware.

No one wants a smart cooktop / rangehood unless the latter turns on when the former is used...

And that doesn't need to be 'interweb connected' when a simple trigger will do.

The rest of the 'smart' appliances will go the way of smart watches, cool... but a fad that only a tiny proportion of people care about.

People want a BIG fridge with a chilled water dispenser + ice-maker, sure.

But the high end part of the whitegoods market is very much dependant (as the article mentioned) on the housing market. Once that dips, the market for upper end appliances follows.

The thing that the article doesn't really hammer home, is that once a category is ruined - JB's etc will simply move onto another one. Hmmm what's next? Lighting?

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