Kitchen Things looks for 'urgent' buyer after going into receivership

Wednesday, 20 August 2025

Kitchenware retailer Kitchen Things and its subsidiaries have gone into receivership as the company looks for a buyer.

Whiteware retailer Kitchen Things and its subsidiaries have gone into receivership and closed its stores, while receivers call for “urgent expressions of interest” from any potential buyers to re-open.

Kitchen Things is a specialist retailer of premium cooking appliances that distributed and retailed brands including Smeg, Asko, Miele, Bosch, Samsung, and LG across 12 retail stores around Aotearoa.

Its servicing and repairs arm Jones Services and distribution arm Applico were also placed into receivership.

Hamilton Kitchen Things business is run by a separate franchise entity and is not subject to the receivership and administration.

On Tuesday, directors asked to place the company’s seven entities into receivership. ASB Bank holds a general security over the group and appointed Grant Thornton’s Russell Moore, Stephen Keen and Adele Hicks as receivers and company managers.

Keen said in a statement the Auckland-based company had “faced sustained pressure from weaker consumer demand and increased competition on pricing, leading to ongoing trading losses” over the last two years.

Mark Jones founded Kitchen Things in 1986 while wife Wendy Jones, left, and daughter Rachel Louie, right, held shares and jointly led the company.

“We are calling for urgent expressions of interest from parties interested in acquiring all or part of the group.”

The group included registered companies Kitchen Things NZ, Kitchen Things Holdings, Kitchen Things IP, Jones Family Investments, Applico Limited, Baumatic Appliances Limited and Appliance Works (2015) which were all placed in receivership.

“Despite efforts to restructure and reduce costs, including exploring possible sales avenues, these measures were not sufficient to offset declining sales and margins,” Keen said.

All 12 Kitchen Things stores had been temporarily closed as receivers scouted for a potential buyer, assessed stock and figured out the next steps. “Key staff” had been retained but Keen did not confirm how many total staff were affected by the receivership.

“Our priority is to identify buyers for the business and/or assets of the group, ideally on a going concern basis,” Keen said.

Directors at the time were company founder, Mark Jones and Rachel Louie. Shares were jointly held by Jones, Louie, Melissa Burnett and Wendy Jones.

Mark Jones is the founding chairperson while daughter Louie is the executive director of Jones Family Investments.

Jones family business

Jones founded the company in Auckland in 1986 after working at Foodtown supermarkets working on the Georgie Pie brand in the 1970s.

Kitchen’N’Things started as a series of small stores across Auckland in an effort to bring European whiteware brands to Kiwi households.

Between the 1990s and 2000s, Kitchen Things expanded from Auckland into other cities as a specialist retailer for premium brands. It took on a formal corporate structure in 2008 when the Jones Family company created subsidiaries including Kitchen Things NZ Limited, Kitchen Things Holdings and Kitchen Things IP.

The company appointed its first external chief executive, Rob MacGregor, in 2010 to build a nationwide network. That grew into a nationwide chain of 12 stores, with Jones Services and Applico. In the 2010s, second and third-generation family members Louie and Wendy Jones also became involved in leading the business.

The company website said it was planning to expand into laundry solutions and small appliances before going into receivership. Keen and the business owners could not be reached for comment.