FOLLOWING two months of uncertainty about its end date and an ongoing fire sale, Dick Smith in Swan Hill will close its doors today.
Staff at the Campbell Street store, along with employees at hundreds of Dick Smith stores around Australia and New Zealand, have been on borrowed time after the consumer electronics retailer went into receivership in January.
Earlier this month, the successful Swan Hill store — which was named the Dick Smith store of the year in 2014 — was notified of its closure date and will cease trading at 6pm.
Many of the shelves are already empty as locals took advantage of the slashed prices, which saw some products marked down by as much as 90 per cent.
Dick Smith Swan Hill store manager Dale Cairns, who has worked for the chain for more than four years, said it had been a tumultuous two months for the store’s five employees.
“It’s disappointing that such a successful store has to close because of the rest of the company,” he told The Guardian.
“It’s not good for anyone — the staff or the town.”
None of the five position at Dick Smith Swan Hill were full-time and Mr Cairns said all employees continued to work up until the store’s closure, with the exception of one on maternity leave.
Mr Cairns said he and the other staff had searched for employment with “mixed results” but a number of local businesses had approached them for interviews.
Dick Smith’s receiver Ferrier Hodgson has indicated they expect all Australian employee entitlements, including annual and long-service leave, to be paid in full.
For more on this story, pick up a copy of Friday’s Guardian (April 29, 2016).
