Stores closed, website offline as Smiths City goes into voluntary administration amid ‘perfect storm’

Tuesday, 2 September 2025

The decision to put Smiths City into voluntary administration comes as the home appliance and furniture retail sector struggles through “probably a perfect storm”, Retail NZ chief executive Carolyn Young says.

The voluntary administration was announced on Tuesday morning, with all nine of Smiths City stores and its online shop temporarily closed, and with its website offline.

The Christchurch-based retailer appointed Colin Gower and Diana Matchett of BDO Christchurch as joint administrators.

Founded in 1918, Smiths City has faced mounting financial pressures due to declining sales and a tough economic environment, BDO said in a statement.

Despite store closures and other cost-cutting efforts, the business was no longer able to trade viably, prompting the move to administration.

“The voluntary administration process aims to achieve the best outcome for all stakeholders,” the administrators said, noting that a sale of the business and assets is one potential path. Urgent expressions of interest were being sought.

The administrators met with staff Tuesday morning and confirmed that customers who have paid deposits will be contacted in coming days. Stores are expected to reopen later this week once an initial financial assessment is complete.

Times were “super tough” for the sector, Young said.

“Homewares sales have been down over the last wee while. It’s not particularly surprising with consumer confidence so low and people not having extra cash at the end of the pay period,” she said

“It was probably a perfect storm in terms of the economic situation and where in the replacement cycle for large items many people were at.

“Go back to post-Covid, a lot of people came out and bought large homeware items.”

Many of those were the types of items that might only be replaced every 10 to 15 years, she said.

“Ultimately retailers are struggling. It doesn’t matter if you are a corner store, on a high street, or a mall, or a large national chain. It’s really difficult to keep afloat.”

The struggling economy and a lack of consumer confidence were the main factors. Alongside those were a range of other issues that might include location, rising insurances, how agile a company was, and the quality of its website.

Smiths City announced almost two weeks ago that it was downsizing after saying business had dropped 40% from two years ago.

As reported by Aimee Shaw in The Post, the company had opted not to renew the leases on five of its stores.

Stores in Nelson, Blenheim, Wellington, Palmerston North and Tauranga had already closed, while the Wānaka store was in the process of shutting up shop.

At its height, Smiths City had 35 stores; in August there was only 11.

Speaking to The Post, Smiths City owner Colin Neal was blunt in his assessment of the situation last month.

“Retail is tough,” he said. “It’s the economy … you don't buy a TV to eat.”