Final Call H&J Smith Department Stores To Close In November
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It’s almost D-day for H&J Smith’s department stores in Invercargill and Queenstown after a four week consultation process.
Staff have been given Tuesday off to absorb the news and the company said it will work closely with those who will be impacted by the closure of the department store business. Related: H&J Smith Department Stores to Close After Over a Century in Business
The last day for trading for the Invercargill flagship store and the Remarkables Park store will be November 18 – while Mitre10 MEGA Invercargill & Mitre10 MEGA Queenstown and Laser Electrical remain unaffected and will operate as usual.
“We appreciate everyone who took the time to engage with us during the H & J Smith consultation process. It was important to us to take a considered approach and carefully evaluate the many submissions, questions, and suggestions from our staff and customers. While we received good feedback, most of it centered on specific factors, such as building remediation or supplier issues, rather than a collective consideration of all factors behind this decision. In the end however, it was clear our proposal to call time on the Department Store business is the right decision for the H&J Smith Group,” managing director Jason Smith said.
H & J Smith Group has identified some areas of the business where there could be opportunity for them to continue independently from the H & J Smith brand. Discussions are currently underway with several interested parties and hope to release details in the coming weeks.
School uniforms and specialist lingerie fitting services are two areas of the business that H & J Smith have focused on to ensure continuity of service for their customers.
“We know these services are vital to our customers and community. Finding a solution for both has been a priority for us, and I am pleased to confirm we will soon make an announcement regarding the future of these services.”
While the HJS flagship store in Invercargill requires significant remediations to the existing building to ensure it meets 100% NBS, there is no information yet to share about the future of the building or site.
“Our priority has been our people and determining the future of the business. It’s only now that it’s appropriate for us to discuss potential uses for the building and site. We feel very strongly, however, that the community has an opportunity to assist in the creation of new vision for this space,” explains Smith.
“Our team and management have really appreciated the incredible customer support through this difficult process. On their behalf, we would like to thank the community for these kind words, stories, and wishes shared with us over the last four weeks. It’s been a great privilege to hear what H & J Smith has meant to the Invercargill, and Southland, community for the last 123 years. We have been honoured to have played even a small part in the lives of our wonderful community,” Smith said.