Recession red cards Ali's fledgling furniture stores

Ali Williams. Photo / Dean Purcell

The chain of bargain furniture stores co-founded by All Black lock Ali Williams a year ago is closing down due to poor sales.

The SuperFurn stores in Mt Roskill, Manukau, Pukekohe, Henderson and Glenfield are to close, but the franchised Rotorua outlet will continue trading.

Williams' business partner and managing director of the business, Paul Gapes, said the decision to exit the market was directly because of the economic downturn and lack of sales.

Mr Gapes said the stores were trading profitably up until late last year.

"Then in December it all dropped right back.

"It's as if someone just turned the lights off."

He said he and Williams will lose personally on the failed venture, although Mr Gapes believed SuperFurn was the best-priced furniture chain in Auckland.

"You would have thought that if anyone was going to survive we would have but it's just diabolical out there for furniture retailers, they're all complaining."

Statistics New Zealand figures out yesterday show furniture and floor covering retail sales fell 4.2 per cent in January, following a 1.2 per cent fall in December.

Mr Gapes said SuperFurn had worked out a budget and timetable and believed it could pay all its creditors.

"We can't see any light at the end of the tunnel for retail sales at the moment and if we keep continuing to kid ourselves that it's going to go really well in another month, you know, we'll be irresponsible ..."

Ali Williams is a shareholder and worked mainly on the promotional side, allowing his name and image to be used in the advertising. Mr Gapes said he had been supportive.

SuperFurn's stock was mainly imported from China and Malaysia, but some was sourced locally. Around 10 staff would lose their jobs.

SuperFurn New Zealand owned the Manukau store outright and 50 per cent of the Pukekohe and Mt Roskill stores, while the Wairau and Henderson stores had been Furniture Shack businesses and were franchises, Mr Gapes said.

Retail analyst Tim Morris of Coriolis Research said with the downturn in the property market and immigration, any sector affected by home formation was suffering at the moment.

Everything from real estate agents to whiteware was hurting.

The latest retail statistics show appliance retailing down 6.6 per cent in January.

Mr Morris said in a recession consumers traded down. Furniture was a segmented sector, and while more affluent consumers may buy cheaper products, those at the lower end of the market may not buy at all.

"It's probably hurt across the board. It is such a discretionary spend," he said.