Nido, New Zealand's largest homewares store, to open in Henderson

Friday, 29 May 2020

Retail spending bounced back after the lockdown but shops still face a challenging road ahead. (Video first published on May 27)

New Zealand’s largest furniture and homewares retailer, Nido, will open its doors to the public on Saturday.

The new 27,000 square metre store in West Auckland will carry more than 10,000 product lines and create 180 new jobs for retail workers in the coming year.

Nido's managing director, Kiwi businessman Vinod Kumar, said the store would sell made-to-measure flatpack furniture and offer an installation service.

The locally owned and operated store was the result of nine years of research into the most innovative retail models internationally and would stock 80 exclusive brands. Kumar said.

Nido managing director Vinod Kumar will open his 27,000 square metre furniture and homeware store, Nido, in Henderson, west Auckland on Saturday.

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“We have sourced products from NZ, Europe and the US and will be the largest retail operation in the country and, for those outside of Auckland, we will eventually offer online shopping functionality through our website and provide nationwide distribution for our products,” Kumar said.

Nido will be New Zealand's largest homeware store.

More than 100 display rooms would be continuously updated, Kumar said.

When the development was announced in January 2019, Kumar said the store's product ranges would have two main price points, one at the low end, and a more premium offering.

First Retail Group managing director Chris Wilkinson says the Ikea business model is changing.

Kumar has a long history in retail in New Zealand.

He bought his first Mitre 10 in 1989 and was instrumental in the development of the Mitre 10 Mega concept.

Managing director of First Retail Group Chris Wilkinson said the opening of the store would bring a boost to retail confidence and help to reinvigorate the category amongst Kiwi consumers.

“People have been focused on their home environment for the past eight weeks, and we know that during the lockdown the businesses in these categories have done very well selling their essential items,' he said.

'These types of stores will be the first destinations Kiwis head to once we come out of lockdown as many of them will have identified projects they want to get started.'

Wilkinson said businesses would also be looking to offerings like Nido as the country transitioned to a new way of working post Covid-19.

“We are going to see a significant change in people's workplaces and more of us will be working from home, so business owners are also going to need to reconsider commercial environments and office solutions, so we expect to see growth here too,” he said.

Kiwis are looking for shopping solutions that are bought together under one roof, Wilkinson said.

He expected customers to travel from the Waikato and Bay of Plenty to purchase from the store.

The store is located just off the north-western motorway at 158 Central Park Drive, Henderson.