By Petrina Berry
(Australian Associated Press)
The last Dick Smith stores will close their doors on May 3.
The receiver handling the demise of the failed consumer electronics chain says the remaining 195 stores in Australia have already begun closing, giving shoppers a fortnight to pick up a final bargain.
A final tranche of 21 Australian stores are slated to shut their doors on May 3, four days after the last of New Zealand’s remaining 55 stores.
“This has been a difficult and uncertain time for employees and we have really appreciated their assistance and commitment,” Ferrier Hodgson receiver James Stewart said in a statement.
The chain’s downfall will result in a total of 2890 jobs losses.
Mr Stewart confirmed that all Australian and New Zealand employee entitlements are expected to be paid in full and will be made a priority ahead of secured creditors.
Dick Smith hit the rails in January with debts of about $400 million following sluggish sales and a backlog of unwanted stock.
It has been forced to close after receiver was unable to find a buyer for its bricks and mortar stores.
Ruslan Kogan, founder of online retail giant kogan.com, bought the brand and its online business in March.
Mr Kogan is expected take control of Dick Smith’s Australian and New Zealand e-commerce sites on June 1.
Private equity firm Anchorage Capital bought Dick Smith from former owner Woolworths in 2012 and then floated the retailer a year later.
The chain’s founder and namesake, entrepreneur Dick Smith, has not been involved with the business since the early 1980s.
Mr Smith founded the business under a north Sydney car park in 1968, capitalising on the CB radio boom and then successfully selling computers and stereos.
