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H & J Smith Invercargill will close in November.
No reprieve has emerged for H & J Smith department stores, which now face a confirmed closure date of November 18.
The decision, following a month-long consultation period, was announced Monday evening and affects 220 staff of the flagship Invercargill store which has operated since 1900, and Queenstown and Gore stores.
The group will keep operating its Mitre10 MEGA stores in Invercargill and Queenstown, and Laser Electrical in Invercargill.
As well, opportunities for some parts of the department store business such as school uniforms and a specialist prosthetic lingerie fitting service to continue independent of the H & J brand had been identified, and the group hoped to announce details of these in the coming weeks, chief executive John Green said.
READ MORE:
* First it was Kirkcaldie & Stains, then David Jones, now H&J Smith: Is this the beginning of the end for department stores?
* Death of a department store: the rise and demise of Invercargill’s H&J Smith
* ‘I will miss it’: Shoppers react to H&J Smith closure announcement
Discussions on other associated operations, Gun City and Paper Plus, were also continuing.
Group managing director Jason Smith said many submissions, questions and suggestions from staff and customers had emerged during the four weeks of consultation since the proposal to call time on the department store business was first announced.
The company was grateful for the feedback but on careful evaluation, most of it centred on specific factors such as building remediation or supplier issues rather than a collective consideration of all factors behind the decision.
The closure was ultimately a proactive step taken in the knowledge that the department store model was in decline around the world.
Robyn Edie/Stuff
H & J Smith group managing director Jason Smith says, “We know this is difficult news.’’
As well as changes in shopping habits, supply issues had made it increasingly difficult for independent stores such as theirs to source the sort of products that customers wanted – and provide a point of difference from the offerings of multi-nationals and chain stores capable of buying directly in larger volumes.
“We know this is difficult news for our staff and community,’’ Smith said.
The group would continue to work closely with the impacted staff members and as part of this approach the store would be closed for a day on Tuesday.
Much attention will also now turn to the fate of the giant Invercargill store building of more than 12,000sq, for a century an anchor retailer in the city, and the prime inner-city site it inhabits.
To this point the priority had been concentrating on people and determining the future of the business, so only now was it appropriate to discuss potential use for the building and site, Smith said.
“We feel very strongly, however, that the community has an opportunity to assist in the creation of new vision for this space.’’
The city store actually comprised 12 buildings, built at different times under different building rules and regulations and each had their own seismic ratings.
They collectively needed major remediation work to bring them up to new building standards, but nothing beyond that had been decided.
“We believe the community should have the opportunity to weigh in on this issue and help determine the future of the site,’’ Smith said
The length of the consultation process had not been easy on staff. Even so, it had been inspiring to see their continuing level of care for their customers and the business.
The coming months would bring real challenges for them but, come November, “we want people to walkout of here knowing they have been well-treated throughout the whole process and very proud of the job that they did – as we are of them.’’
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