Smith & Caughey's announces closure of Queen Street and online stores
Smith & Caughey's closed its Newmarket store last year and reduced its CBD store to a single-floor format.
Photo:
RNZ / Marika Khabazi
After 145 years in business, Auckland department store Smith & Caughey's has announced it will close on 31 July.
In a statement posted to social media, Smith & Caughey's said 98 staff would be made redundant when the Queen Street retail and online stores close.
Smith & Caughey's closed its Newmarket store last year and reduced its CBD store to a single-floor format
due to financial difficulties
.
The company cited increased competition from new shopping malls, continued economic uncertainty and
low consumer confidence
and spending power has contributed to their closure.
Smith & Caughey's also said many city office workers were continuing to work from home, post-Covid.
They said the city centre has also faced significant disruption and change in the form of ongoing roadworks and the
slow progress of CRL causing traffic congestion
.
The company also said a large decline in foot traffic on Queen Street and an increase in parking costs had caused an impact, forcing the "heartbreaking" closure of the entire business.
"We are acutely aware that this has been a difficult and uncertain time for our staff and today's announcement is a deeply emotional one for all the team, our suppliers and our loyal customers," acting chief executive Matt Harray said.
"Our intention has always been to address the business challenges so that Smith & Caughey's can continue. Every attempt has been made to achieve this and every feasible option investigated, no stone left unturned.
"However, it's sadly clear it is no longer viable for us to keep the doors open."
The online store will close on 30 May.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter
curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
6 hours ago
- RNZ News
More claim social development benefits during May
Unemployment is at 5.1 percent through May. Photo: JES2UFOTO Latest numbers show 27,243 more people received a benefit in May, compared to the year before. The Ministry of Social Development's monthly update shows the number of people on a benefit in New Zealand rose by just over seven percent to 403,311 in that time. The unemployment rate is 5.1 percent. Most of the increase is due to people accessing JobSeeker support - there was an 11 percent rise of just over 21,000, to a total 213,831. In May, 9.5 percent more people found work, compared to the same time last year, but eight percent more benefits were cancelled than a year ago - a total of just over 6000 - for other reasons, including sanctions. The Government aims to reduce the number of people on the Jobseeker Support benefit by 50,000 by 2030, introducing a traffic-light system and new non-financial sanctions , and changing the re-application for job seekers to every six months, instead of each year.
RNZ News
15 hours ago
- RNZ News
Recovery taking longer than expected, Kiwibank economists say
The recovery that is happening is driven by the external sector - export prices are up 17 percent in the March quarter primarily driven by dairy price increases. Photo: RNZ Economic recovery from the "recession the Reserve Bank made us have " is coming, but it's taking a lot longer than expected, Kiwibank says. Its economists have updated their forecasts, and say the economy is likely to grow just 0.9 percent this year. Previously, they had expected 1.4 percent. "The NZ economy crawled out of a deep, deep hole last year. It was a recession the Reserve Bank made us have. It's been a tough time for many businesses and households," senior economist Mary-Jo Vergara said, "On a per capita basis, economic activity has shrunk by more than during the [global financial crisis]. Unfortunately, we may be crawling for a little longer." Although there had been suggestions that the official cash rate (OCR) could be near the bottom of the easing cycle, Vergara said Kiwibank's economists thought it should be lowered to 2.5 percent, from the current 3.25 percent. "The Reserve Bank's own OCR track signals a 60 percent change they go to 2.75. "We're thinking one more cut to 2.5 percent will be necessary to actually see the economy recover and stimulated." She said the economic recovery was happening "a lot slower" than had been expected. "Part of that is because of what's happening overseas, the global uncertainty is really weighing on businesses and the forecast slowdown in global growth is really weighing on us here." Reserve Bank Governor Christian Hawkesby. Photo: RBNZ The recovery that is happening is driven by the external sector - export prices are up 17 percent in the March quarter primarily driven by dairy price increases. "There's kind of a two-tier economy or two-speed economy developing... The reason we climbed out of recession was because of the primary sector doing so well and that momentum has kind of continued... but you'll see other sectors like construction or retail that are more interest rate-sensitive showing subdued activity." But she said the export sector was exposed to global risks. "The likes of the IMF and OECD have slashed their forecasts, just as we're starting to get back on our feet." She said Kiwibank's previous house price forecast had been too high, because of the level of stock on the market. It was possible that price could rise by 2 percent or 3 percent by the end of the year, she said. "The market is starting to show a bit of a sign of an uplift in the last few months but it's been very small, not the trend we would have expected by now." She said the economy should start to feel better for households by the second half of this year, going into 2026. "It's been pushed out a little bit further into the second half of the year. It's just a delayed recovery. "We're still expecting growth this year just not as strong as we saw last year. But also a delayed timing to that and obviously what's happening overseas can risk further derailing that recovery, but hopefully in the second half of this year we see the housing market turn and that starts to support household consumption and the labour market. "We're getting to the peak in the unemployment rate, which is good news but there is still a bit of softness there. But we expect employment growth to rebound at the end of this year." She said because so much of New Zealand's wealth was tied up in property, a weak housing market was tough on the economy even though falling prices improved affordability. On Friday it was reported the BNZ-Business New Zealand Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) slumped by 6.4 points in April to 47.5 - reversing all of its gains this year. A reading below 50 indicates contraction. Vergara said the "steep" downturn in manufacturing was disappointing. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
19 hours ago
- RNZ News
New Zealand falls in latest global gender equality rankings
Parity in ministerial positions dropped from 81.8 percent to 53.8percent over the past two years. Photo: 123rf New Zealand has slipped a spot in global rankings for gender equality, according to the World Economic Forum (WEF). The WEF's latest Global Gender Gap Report , which benchmarks performance of individual nations across various economic and social indicators, said New Zealand maintained high standards globally, but that a downward trajectory loomed. Weaker economic opportunities and political representation for women had bumped New Zealand from fourth to fifth. The WEF report measured gender parity across four key dimensions - economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. Each dimension was assessed using various indicators and weighted accordingly. In terms of economic participation, New Zealand ranked below 70 percent for the first time since 2007. "The subindex exhibits a downward trend, despite minor fluctuations over time. There is a further decline in executive perceptions of wage equality." The report also pointed to falling political empowerment, setting back "notable progress" from 2019-23. "Parity in ministerial positions has dropped by nearly 30 percentage points, from 81.8 percent in 2023 to 53.8 percent in 2025. "Similarly, parity in Parliamentary representation now stands at 83.6 percent, down from full parity achieved in 2023." Minister for Women Nicola Grigg. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon Minister for Women Nicola Grigg told RNZ that, despite the lower ranking, New Zealand remained in a strong position. "While New Zealand has dropped one place in the latest ranking, we remain in the top five globally, including maintaining first place in educational attainment. "This is a strong position, reflecting long-term commitment." The coalition government has not ruled out a mandatory pay gap reporting system, which the previous Labour government introduced in August 2023 . Cabinet has yet to make any decisions, with the focus for now on supporting businesses to build the capacity to measure and report their own gaps. If ministers were to push ahead with a mandatory pay gap reporting system, decisions would first be required around funding and resourcing the system. As such, the government has sought to ramp up data on the gap itself and its causes, Grigg said. "The gender pay gap is complex and nuanced, with around 80 percent of contributing factors being 'unexplained', like hiring bias. "That is why, last year, I launched the first-ever government-backed Gender Pay Gap Toolkit , which was designed by businesses themselves to help them address these complex issues. Since launching the calculator toolkit, we've had great engagement, with over 23,000 visits to the site." Grigg told RNZ that the government's recent pay equity changes, which changed the bargaining system, while scrapping all existing agreements and notifications, supports gender equality. "The changes will identify genuine sex-based discrimination in the workplace. New Zealand's system remains more liberal than many listed in the 2025 Gender Pay Gap Index, for example. "Having a fair-pay equity system and giving businesses resources to reduce the gender pay gap contributes towards achieving gender equality." Dame Marilyn Waring. Photo: Supplied In response to those changes, a cross-party group of female former MPs, led by Dame Marilyn Waring, formed the People's Select Committee on Pay Equity pressure group . Former equal employment opportunities commissioner and advisor to the group Saunoamaali'i Karanina Sumeo told RNZ that the changes would have come about too early to be counted in the WEF report. "The global ranking is something that makes us look great, but we've got to look underneath that," she said. "We know around 38.2 percent of households in New Zealand think that their income is either not enough or barely enough to get by - that should matter to us more." While progress had been made, Sumeo said underlying drivers of gender inequality still persisted. "I wouldn't feel comfortable that we're going to maintain it in the top five. I suspect that we're going to fall back." Sumeo said a mandatory system would be ideal and, while she hoped the government moved it forward, she wasn't holding out for it. "Unless it's mandatory, it won't go on a to-do list, so ultimately we'd like to go there, but also we need to support our businesses, so it's not a scary exercise to do and so we're all doing it for the right reason." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
