1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:02,960 Speaker 1: Heather d for see Ellen Smith and Coe's How Good 2 00:00:03,000 --> 00:00:05,080 Speaker 1: is This? One of New Zealand's oldest department stores has 3 00:00:05,080 --> 00:00:07,720 Speaker 1: been partially saved. The company has decided to keep a 4 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:10,600 Speaker 1: downsized Queen Street store and then operate online rather than 5 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:13,160 Speaker 1: shutting down completely. Now what this means is about half 6 00:00:13,200 --> 00:00:15,200 Speaker 1: the staff will keep their jobs, but the other one 7 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:17,239 Speaker 1: hundred will face redundancy by the end of the year. 8 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:20,840 Speaker 1: Tony Coe is Smith and Coey's chairman. Hey, Tony, Hi, 9 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:23,759 Speaker 1: Heather Tony. Now, I'm personally thrilled to see an institution, 10 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:27,600 Speaker 1: and this particularly this institution saved. But are you sure 11 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:29,680 Speaker 1: that there is a future for department stores in this 12 00:00:29,760 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 1: country in the future. 13 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:33,960 Speaker 2: Well, we've looked very hard at this, and we've looked 14 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:36,440 Speaker 2: at our position on us. We have to face reality 15 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:39,520 Speaker 2: that fewer people are going into the city to shop 16 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:43,839 Speaker 2: and we need to adapt accordingly, and we've sort of 17 00:00:43,840 --> 00:00:45,960 Speaker 2: been round around and come up with us and we're 18 00:00:45,960 --> 00:00:47,199 Speaker 2: pleased that we've been able to do that. 19 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:50,160 Speaker 1: Okay, so why are you closing the new Market store? 20 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:52,479 Speaker 1: New Market is a place that's bustling, But then you're 21 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:55,000 Speaker 1: keeping open the Queen Street store when Queen Street is 22 00:00:55,040 --> 00:00:55,560 Speaker 1: just awful. 23 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:00,279 Speaker 2: Yeah, well, we've looked at that. Our Queen Street new 24 00:01:00,320 --> 00:01:04,560 Speaker 2: market sales had gone down a lot, and we just 25 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:07,399 Speaker 2: felt that we needed to have the one store on 26 00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:10,160 Speaker 2: a limited operation and that was what was going to 27 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:11,440 Speaker 2: work when we ran all the numbers. 28 00:01:11,959 --> 00:01:15,640 Speaker 1: Do you foresee Queen Street at some stage going back 29 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:17,560 Speaker 1: to its former glory. 30 00:01:18,000 --> 00:01:20,119 Speaker 2: I don't think it'll go back to its former glory. 31 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:22,959 Speaker 2: I think it'll change. So it's going to be redeveloped 32 00:01:22,959 --> 00:01:25,319 Speaker 2: in a whole lot of ways. When the train station opens, 33 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:27,160 Speaker 2: that's going to pour a lot of people out of there. 34 00:01:27,480 --> 00:01:29,880 Speaker 2: We've got the Symphony Center going up across the road 35 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:33,680 Speaker 2: from US, new hotels going into Queen Street. There'll be 36 00:01:33,720 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 2: different ways of doing things and I think it will evolve. 37 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:40,319 Speaker 2: We won't see the old days like it was, but 38 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:43,000 Speaker 2: we'll see a new, different sort of Queen Street. 39 00:01:43,319 --> 00:01:46,520 Speaker 1: When do you see the economy turning around, particularly for retail. 40 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:50,320 Speaker 2: Well, one hopes that when interstrates start to come off, 41 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:53,920 Speaker 2: that there'll be more consumer confidence around because it's been 42 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:58,400 Speaker 2: pretty rough, I can tell you, and you know I 43 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:01,720 Speaker 2: think it will get better. That it's not going to 44 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:02,200 Speaker 2: be overnight. 45 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:04,120 Speaker 1: When are you picking the ocr cup you're going for 46 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:07,960 Speaker 1: October brains here. 47 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:11,760 Speaker 2: I'll be guided by the experts. I used to sit 48 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:13,200 Speaker 2: on the Monitary Policy Committee, so. 49 00:02:13,200 --> 00:02:15,880 Speaker 1: I have a little understanding of how did you Tony 50 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 1: walk go on, then tell us what you think. You're 51 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:19,320 Speaker 1: basically an expert. 52 00:02:20,280 --> 00:02:21,720 Speaker 2: No, no, I'll leave it to the experts. 53 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:23,359 Speaker 1: Jeez, hate, what do you want it? Do you want 54 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:25,080 Speaker 1: to weigh in on where Adrian was actually a good 55 00:02:25,120 --> 00:02:25,720 Speaker 1: governor or not? 56 00:02:27,760 --> 00:02:29,000 Speaker 2: No, I don't want to weigh in on that. 57 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 1: Well, listen, tell me what is it that's changed. I mean, 58 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:34,240 Speaker 1: this must have been an option that you considered when 59 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:35,720 Speaker 1: you first announced that you were going to shut the 60 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:36,680 Speaker 1: place down. What changed? 61 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:39,480 Speaker 2: Yeah, well, we did look at it. We were looking 62 00:02:39,480 --> 00:02:41,360 Speaker 2: at a range of things. I think we just looked 63 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:43,880 Speaker 2: a bit harder with a fresh look, to see if 64 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:47,520 Speaker 2: we could make it work. We already focused very hard 65 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:52,000 Speaker 2: on things, and we were able to massage the numbers 66 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:54,840 Speaker 2: in a way that we felt confident that this would happen. 67 00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:56,320 Speaker 2: We could make this work. 68 00:02:56,560 --> 00:02:58,760 Speaker 1: Oh brilliant. Well, listen, best of luck with it. I 69 00:02:58,840 --> 00:03:01,639 Speaker 1: really hope it succeeds. That's Tony Coe, the chairman of 70 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:05,320 Speaker 1: Smith and Coe's. For more from Hither duplessy Allen Drive. 71 00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:08,919 Speaker 1: Listen live to news talks. It'd be from four pm weekdays, 72 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:11,240 Speaker 1: or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.