Saying goodbye to a Southland institution
“These retail department stores largely disappeared 50 years ago. The fact that we are still here is a wonderful thing and that is what we are celebrating rather than mourning."
H&J Smith has transformed from a department store into a museum-like attraction in its final days this week.
People can be spotted filtering through the historic Invercargill department store despite there being little to no stock available to purchase.
Most aren’t there for the sales though. Instead, the public has been - as H&J Smith chief executive John Green puts it - taking the chance to say goodbye.
It might be one last cheese roll at the Copper Kettle, a look at the historical exhibition on the first floor, or the opportunity to capture one final family photo in Santa’s Slay at the other end of the building.
At 3pm on Saturday, H&J Smith will close its doors for the final time. It’s the end of an era for Invercargill given the department store has operated in the city for 123 years.
“As I’ve said to a few people, the shelves are bare, but we are still here - for a couple more days,” Green said.
“One of the things we set out is that the last four weeks would be about people being able to say goodbye, that customers would have their closure.”
“It’s confronting as you walk through the door and there is no stock.
“People are wondering where it all went; we actually sold it all. We have had a phenomenal sell-through, we’ve had phenomenal support from customers.”
Green acknowledges there is a touch of sadness attached to the closure but believes the fact a family-owned department store has made it this far should make it more of a celebration.
“These retail department stores largely disappeared 50 years ago. The fact that we are still here is a wonderful thing and that is what we are celebrating rather than mourning.
“We refer to ourselves as an independent, not a chain, and that is the distinction.
“You have Smith & Co which is still in family ownership, you have Ballantynes still under extended family ownership and then you have H&J Smith.
“There are a couple of little ones around the country but in terms of large independent department stores there are three, and it’s about to be two.”
“We’ve done remarkably well to make it to here.”
So, what has led to the closure now?
“To the public, they see us busy making sales, they see lots of stock on the shelves, what else is there to worry about?” Green said.
“[But] the building does need work at some point. The supplier line is getting difficult, you can’t sell stuff if you can’t get stock. People costs are part of it, but not the reason.
“There is an investment cycle that takes place and the investment that would be needed, to set us up for the next 20-30 years, is an extraordinary amount of money and there is no guarantee you will get a return on it.
“While the company is about people and community, businesses must be sustainable, and it does have to pay its way.
“The sort of numbers that we were talking about put that in question and you go; ‘well, if that’s going to happen in the next five 10 years, what are you waiting for’?
“Let’s do this while we are in good heart.”
On top of this week being a chance for the public to say goodbye, it has also been a period of closure for the over 200 staff.
Fifteen staff will remain on following Saturday for the “pack down” and other tasks, but for the remainder, their employment will come to an end.
Green said it had been an interesting time given they’ve had close to six months warning.
For some that might have felt like too long, but Green said it had at least provided staff with time to adjust, plan their lives, and work out what is next.