The Local Dick Smith store has closed down

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#669799 8-Aug-2012 20:19

Jaxson:

They also have a lot of plastic crap, lots of novelty stuff guaranteed to break in the first 2 minutes. A lot of their gear is also over priced compared to what you can buy elsewhere, and a lot is their house brand which is more of a risk than buying known brand products.

That's my general feel of the place too.
If I was hanging a 65" plasma on the wall + a home theatre, I'd probably think twice about buying the single cheapest wall bracket, the cheapest HDMI baluns / calbes / speakers on the market...
A happy medium often gives a good result for a lot of people.
Sure if you're on a budget... but there's a reason why there are price options out there, it won't suit everyone.

stevenz

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#670020 9-Aug-2012 12:24

Jaxson: They also have a lot of plastic crap, lots of novelty stuff guaranteed to break in the first 2 minutes. A lot of their gear is also over priced compared to what you can buy elsewhere, and a lot is their house brand which is more of a risk than buying known brand products.

A lot of their house-brand stuff actually has a pretty good reputation, particularly some of the audio gear which is pretty no frills, but reliable and good quality for the price.

@KnightNZ

JimmyH

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#670220 9-Aug-2012 18:56

Dunnersfella:
Jaxson:

They also have a lot of plastic crap, lots of novelty stuff guaranteed to break in the first 2 minutes. A lot of their gear is also over priced compared to what you can buy elsewhere, and a lot is their house brand which is more of a risk than buying known brand products.

That's my general feel of the place too.
If I was hanging a 65" plasma on the wall + a home theatre, I'd probably think twice about buying the single cheapest wall bracket, the cheapest HDMI baluns / calbes / speakers on the market...
A happy medium often gives a good result for a lot of people.
Sure if you're on a budget... but there's a reason why there are price options out there, it won't suit everyone.

I might be a bit choosy about getting good brackets and speakers, but their house-brand cables are probably as good as the pricey ones, and are a whole lot cheaper. In fact some are probably better than the pricey ones - they have a good reputation in this area, and certainly the analog cables I brought a few years back worked fine and seemed to have much heavier gauge wires than the more expensive options from elsewhere. Plus, with things like HDMI, unlike analog there doesn't tend to be marginal degradation - it either works or it doesn't. If it works you have saved a bit. If it doesn't work, take it back.

Dunnersfella

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#670788 10-Aug-2012 20:48

Remember, performance of analogue interconnects isn't just about the gauge of the cable, more the shielding of the cable. Unbalanced RCA's need as much shielding as possible (and economically viable) to stop distortion from detracting from the sound.
Don't get fooled by ultra thick cable... it's not everything!

As an aside, it's likely that Dick Smith will announce a new owner on Monday...
If you worked for Dickies you'd be stoked that Ironbridge had been discounted from the running, they made an absolute hash of their MediaWorks purchase!!

http://smarthouse.com.au/Home_Office/Industry/Q3M5M8E9?print=1

crackrdbycracku

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#675968 23-Aug-2012 14:48

Isn't it ironic....

Dick Smith to business - stop chasing growth

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10828665

Pressure on big businesses to provide never-ending profit growth is driving our economies towards a big brick wall, he says.

One store at a time.

Didn't anybody tell you I was a hacker?

bisr

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#677360 27-Aug-2012 03:02

crackrdbycracku: Isn't it ironic....

Dick Smith to business - stop chasing growth

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10828665

Pressure on big businesses to provide never-ending profit growth is driving our economies towards a big brick wall, he says.

One store at a time.

::Shocked at the ability of someone to call black 'black' and white 'white' instead of the reverse::

Yeah, this common sense is going to go down REALLY well with the endless toadie business school grads who have never known anything else but "growth" mantras and bottom-covering and sycophancy.

But then again, Dick has made a lot of money... he must be pretty smart. After all we elected our PM based on the same ethos, didn't we?

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crackrdbycracku

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#677499 27-Aug-2012 11:03

bisr:
crackrdbycracku: Isn't it ironic....

Dick Smith to business - stop chasing growth

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10828665

Pressure on big businesses to provide never-ending profit growth is driving our economies towards a big brick wall, he says.

One store at a time.

::Shocked at the ability of someone to call black 'black' and white 'white' instead of the reverse::

Yeah, this common sense is going to go down REALLY well with the endless toadie business school grads who have never known anything else but "growth" mantras and bottom-covering and sycophancy.

But then again, Dick has made a lot of money... he must be pretty smart. After all we elected our PM based on the same ethos, didn't we?

Never trust someone who lives in a mortgage free house. They simply don't understand the priorities of the rest of us.

Of course he can say stuff like this stuff now, he has already made his money. If he was still paying rent or paying off a mortgage, such as the people who used to work in the local Dick Smith stores, I'm sure he would have a different perspective on 'growth'.

Didn't anybody tell you I was a hacker?

BlakJak

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#677520 27-Aug-2012 11:33

crackrdbycracku:
bisr:
crackrdbycracku: Isn't it ironic....

Dick Smith to business - stop chasing growth

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10828665

Pressure on big businesses to provide never-ending profit growth is driving our economies towards a big brick wall, he says.

One store at a time.

::Shocked at the ability of someone to call black 'black' and white 'white' instead of the reverse::

Yeah, this common sense is going to go down REALLY well with the endless toadie business school grads who have never known anything else but "growth" mantras and bottom-covering and sycophancy.

But then again, Dick has made a lot of money... he must be pretty smart. After all we elected our PM based on the same ethos, didn't we?

Never trust someone who lives in a mortgage free house. They simply don't understand the priorities of the rest of us.

Of course he can say stuff like this stuff now, he has already made his money. If he was still paying rent or paying off a mortgage, such as the people who used to work in the local Dick Smith stores, I'm sure he would have a different perspective on 'growth'.

Erm.. what?

Growth != Profitability.
All you need to sustain mortgages, etc, is to remain profitable enough that what you clear is going to cover your expenses.

What he's saying is that growth for growth's sake doesn't actually help anyone except the greedy. Once you have 'enough' you don't need to push the envelope and risk overdoing it or destroying what you have.

No signature to see here, move along...

crackrdbycracku

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#677529 27-Aug-2012 11:48

BlakJak:

Erm.. what?

Growth != Profitability.
All you need to sustain mortgages, etc, is to remain profitable enough that what you clear is going to cover your expenses.

What he's saying is that growth for growth's sake doesn't actually help anyone except the greedy. Once you have 'enough' you don't need to push the envelope and risk overdoing it or destroying what you have.

Yes, once you have enough you don't need to overdo it. But economies don't work that way, until hunger is eliminated and everybody has the standard of living you and I do I don't think we can talk about 'growth for growth's sake'.

Growth doesn't just make those who have 'enough' get more, it also lifts those who have less than enough into having enough in the first place.

Yes, there is inequality, yes there is a gap between rich and poor. But in a rich country the poor are less poor than the poor in a poor country. For example, poor people in sub-Saharan Africa starve to death, poor people in America are too fat.

The thing is it is only those people, ie rich people living mortgage free, such as Dick Smith who say "OK, we are there now. No more growth required". Sure, they have plenty but what about the rest who are struggling? These people often make a living working in the shops, such as DSE, that got the rich people rich in the first place. Of course, you can shut the local Dick Smith shops to limit growth but if you don't recognise the human cost you are blind.

In essence people like Dick Smith are saying: The world and it's resources need to be exploited until me and those I care about are comfortable, once this is achieved then we need to think about sustainability and such.

I agree, I just have a different definition as to who 'I' is in this context.

Didn't anybody tell you I was a hacker?

grb67

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#679354 30-Aug-2012 16:41

Impressed with Dicks warranty handling, took in an external drive that had dies, no questions asked, offered a replacement and a gift card cos the drive was currently retailing for less than I'd paid for it. Was so impressed I brought 2 more externals from them.

freitasm

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#692475 27-Sep-2012 20:27

Well, it happened... Woolworths sells Dick Smith Electronics to Anchorage Capital

From the official press relelase from Anchorage Capital (in hideous PDF format):

Anchorage Capital Partners today announced that it has entered into an agreement with Woolworths Limited to acquire 100 per cent of Dick Smith Electronics, with the transaction expected to complete by November
2012.

Dick Smith is an iconic Australian consumer electronics retailer that was founded in 1968 by entrepreneur Dick Smith and became part of the Woolworths group in 1980. Today Dick Smith employs more than 4,500 people across 325 stores in Australia and New Zealand and in fiscal year 2012 reported sales of $1.6 billion.

The transaction has been conservatively structured so that Dick Smith will emerge from the sale supported by a strong balance sheet with considerable asset backing and no core debt. As part of the purchase, Anchorage will also support the business by providing additional cash investment and guarantees. It is Anchorage's intention to maintain the current network of 325 stores across Australia and New Zealand and to consider selective network expansion over time where appropriate.

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Dunnersfella

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#692501 27-Sep-2012 21:17

Purchased to flip for a profit in 3 years time like all good private equity firms?
It will be interesting to watch their progress.

freitasm

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#692517 27-Sep-2012 21:44

NZ Herald says they bought DSE for AU$ 20 million. If that's the case, wow - cheap!

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#692527 27-Sep-2012 22:15

freitasm: NZ Herald says they bought DSE for AU$ 20 million. If that's the case, wow - cheap!

Yes I was suirprised to see it sold for just 20 million, that is so cheap. Especially as they have an online infrastructure and something like 300 odd stores. Also is still a very good brand name, even though it isn't what it once was, they have kept it fresh and modern.

bisr

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#692565 28-Sep-2012 01:14

freitasm: NZ Herald says they bought DSE for AU$ 20 million. If that's the case, wow - cheap!

Surely that's a typo - maybe they omitted a zero? More like $200 Million. 20 Million on Annual Sales of 1.8 Billion... I know the margins are small and everything but it says there is no significant debt attached to the company. Clearly this must be wrong.

20 Million would only value each store at around AU$60,000.

I don't believe it.

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