Staff sad to farewell Dick Smith

Whanganui's Dick Smith manager says closure of the store is like a death in the family.

"It's like losing part of the family," Ryan Coley said.

He has been working for Dick Smith for six years, and has managed the Whanganui store for the last 10 months.

Dick Smith, with 363 stores in Australia and New Zealand, went into receivership on January 5 owing nearly $500 million. The receivers tried to sell it but had not had any acceptable offers.

The Whanganui store did better than many of the others, Mr Coley said, and had a loyal customer base. Whanganui people didn't want to shop out of town and the store had helpful staff.

"We have always hired team members that are very strong in helping the community and helping solve problems. The community has rewarded (us) with return business."

He wanted to thank the store's customers, and its hard-working staff.

Three people will lose their jobs when the Victoria Ave electronics retailer closes. They are among 430 Dick Smith staff in New Zealand who were told about the closures on Thursday.

There had been five Whanganui staff, but one part-timer had left and two casuals had returned to their studies. Staff expect to be paid all their wages, holiday pay and other entitlements.

The store will close some time in the next eight weeks, after a sale of stock.

The man who is second-in-charge, who gave his name as Bryce, is hoping to start his own business servicing and maintaining computers.

He's a techy with "all the gadgets", has worked for Dick Smith for nearly eight years and enjoyed it.

"I loved it, and I still do. It's an awesome job," he said.

The store had its ups and downs, but prospects only started looking "not that great" about four months ago.

The other two staff members will be looking for work.

Mr Coley hopes to find it in Whanganui, because he has a partner here.

Dick Smith was bought by private equity firm Anchorage Capital in 2012, and some have blamed the firm for its receivership. Mr Coley said he never felt uneasy under the new ownership.

"Anchorage took the business in a different direction. It wasn't negative. There are pros and cons to every business."