New player positive sign for ailing retail sector

Four The Good Guys Discount Warehouses have been set up in West Auckland since April 2008 with more The Good Guys stores planned for premium Auckland locations. Photo / Supplied

After a slew of bad news in the appliance retailing sector a brighter signal has emerged with the impending entry into the market of huge Australian chain The Good Guys.

With over 90 stores across Australia The Good Guys is now advertising for Kiwi staff and says it has secured some prime Auckland locations.

It plans to deliver "a large format retail concept into New Zealand that will service the fast growing electrical appliance sector".

"The Good Guys are set to rapidly expand in New Zealand," its ads say.

The news comes hot on the heels of the decision by rival Aussie retailer JB Hi-Fi to close the four remaining Hill and Stewart whiteware stores in Auckland, and the receivership of publicly listed home entertainment retailer Eastern HiFi.

The Good Guys is owned by Muir Electrical Company, a private company set up by industry identity Ian Muir who opened his first electrical store in Melbourne in 1952.

Muir died last year.

The stores sell the full range of electrical goods from whiteware to home entertainment equipment, air conditioning units and navigation systems.

A spokeswoman for the company said it did not normally comment in the media and she could give no details about its New Zealand plans.

However, a local manager involved in the project commented that it had been several years in the planning.

The Good Guys would appear to have some New Zealand operations already, with a business called The Good Guys Discount Warehouses in West Auckland.

New Zealand Companies Office records show four of the Discount Warehouses companies have been set up since April 2008. Founder Ian Muir's son Andrew is a director of all four.

Appliance retailing was one of the sectors hardest hit by the recession, due to the slowing property market and consumers cutting back on discretionary spending.

Statistics New Zealand figures show spending in the category fell consistently from mid-2007 to mid-2008.

Seasonally adjusted sales in the September 2007 quarter were $620 million, falling to $602 million in the first half of 2008. Sales recovered in the most recent September quarter to $663 million. November figures out this week show the sector was up slightly on the previous month.