‘Dark cloud’ descends after shock news

• Published date: 25 May 2023
• Publication title: Southland Express

Invercargill residents and H&J Smith staff were emotional and surprised last week with the announcement of the potential closure of the long-running department store business

H&J Smith managing director Jason Smith said he shared the sentiments.

He described the decision as one of the toughest he had to make, as not only was it a burden to staff, but also to his family, as they had been running the business for 123 years in Southland.

‘‘I’ve worked here most of my life... I’ve got lots of good friends in this business and lots of good friends through this business. So that makes it very difficult.’’

The proposal to close the department stores in Invercargill, Gore and Queenstown is now out for consultation for four weeks — and may take into consideration proposals from interested third parties or staff who wanted to continue to run parts of the business independently, such as Gun City, Paper Plus and school uniforms sales, he said.

While he did not want to disclose the values of the businesses, the staff were the first priority, Mr Smith said.

H&J Smith employed about 220 people — 190 in Invercargill, four in Gore and 20 in Queenstown.

A meeting was held with them on Wednesday night to disclose the proposal and the next steps.

‘‘The nicest way to describe it was it seemed like a dark cloud had entered the building,’’ he said.

‘‘There’s a lot of people who’ve worked with us many years and they are really, really hurting.

‘‘I think there was a lot of outpouring of emotion ... but I think the realisation now is going to be very difficult for people.’’

The business truly did not know where the consultation might head, and no decision had been made yet, he said.

‘‘We’ve outlined a process and a path that it could go down.

‘‘But I think it’s going to end up quite different to what we anticipated, which is the whole point of consultation, and...