Dick Smith head office moving to Eastern Creek site

[SeriouslyPunked]

Apparently the new head office of Dick Smith (or just their distribution centre, I can't remember) is moving from Chullora to Eastern Creek. In short, its going to be smack bang right next to LG on wonderland drive, taking up more space that used to be where sydney's best theme park used to be. I've already boycotted LG products because of this (not that that was hard, since they make crap anyway) and it looks like i'll be boycotting Dick Smith now as well. I guess that's progress for you.

[BNErider]

Why would you boycott them? The park is LONG gone and it's not like they directly purchased the land from Wonderland which lead to its closure... Come on mate, I think you're over-reacting just a tad, don't you think?

[nev]

Apparently the new head office of Dick Smith (or just their distribution centre, I can't remember) is moving from Chullora to Eastern Creek. In short, its going to be smack bang right next to LG on wonderland drive, taking up more space that used to be where sydney's best theme park used to be. I've already boycotted LG products because of this (not that that was hard, since they make crap anyway) and it looks like i'll be boycotting Dick Smith now as well. I guess that's progress for you.

So presumably you're boycotting the whole Coles Myer Group because Myer are already out there, now Dick Smith? Following your logic you shouldn't be shopping at any Coles, Coles Express, Myer, Dick Smith, Target, Liquorland, Harris Technology, K-Mart, Officeworks or Bi-Lo right? Seems a little extreme lol rich

[Gazza]

I'd unbolt your letterbox, and refrain from sending or receiving any mail, since Australia Post have a centre on the Wonderland site. I think boycotting the postal system would send a really strong message.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Why stop there? Allow me to expand on the above with a long diatribe that makes interesting reading for those that didn't know........- Coles group (which doesn't actually include Myer anymore) eliminates the following:

1. Coles
2. Bi-Lo
3. 1st Choice Liquor
4. Liquor Land
5. Vintage Cellars
6. Officeworks
7. Target
8. Kmart
9. Kmart Tyre & Auto
10. Harris Technology
11. Coles Express
12. Coles Express Petrol (incorporating Shell Petrol)

Now the Coles Group is currently owned by WesFarmers. This means you will also have to boycott the Wesfarmers Group. This includes:

1. Bunnings
2. Premier Coal
3. Lumley Insurance
4. Australian Gold Reagents
5. Queensland Nitrates
6. Australian Vinyls
7. Blackwoods
8. Total Fasteners
9. Motion Industries
10. Protector Safety
11. Packaging House
12. Paykels
13. Air Liquide
14. Wesfarmers LPG
15. Kleenheat Gas
16. Energy Generation
17. Wespine Industries

(This list is by no means exhaustive) So this means you're going to have to boycott all major hardware stores (and by association, any tradesman who uses them), All coal-burning electricity generators, since along with Premier Coal in perth, there are also ownerships in QLD and other states). There's also all gold jewelry, since AGR is the only supplier in australia for gold reagents (sodium cyanide), and any other gold-related applications. On the industrial and safety front, pretty much anything related to personal protective equipment in the industrial sense, all sorts of electrical safety switches and surge protectors etc. Energy wise, don't travel on any form of transport that utilises LPG or CNG, so that rules out buses and taxis, as well as private vehicles running on LPG, as well as your own home Barbecue, since Kleenheat Gas is one of the biggest LPG distributors in australia. Another of their partners, Coregas is an important supplier of many different gases, one of which you almost can't avoid if you are injured or involved in an accident - as Coregas produces Medical Oxygen. Wespine industries is a large producer of pine for the construction industry - don't look now but you made need to boycott your own HOUSE! The Bunnings Group themselves has it's own diverse portfolio. Lumley Insurance, as an afterthought, underwrites the entire fleet of commonwealth (federal government) vehicles, so I hope that you never went to a public (or private for that matter) School, ever took money from the dole, went to hospital, used a medicare card to visit a doctor, received a tax refund (or this years tax bonus) - on second thoughts, since tax funds the entire government operation, and therefore the contributions paid to lumleys, the government is really funding the closure of wonderland - so stop paying tax, and never pay it again!!! (declare a republic or something...) Now let's just take a look at the big bad Dick Smith plant. Dick Smith, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Woolworths Group of companies (not coles, like Nev said, , also has this under their wing:

1. Woolworths
2. Woolworths Liquor
3. Woolworths Petrol (Including stake in Caltex)
4. Dan Murphy's
5. BWS Beer Wine Spirits
6. Dick Smith
7. Dick Smith Powerhouse
8. Tandy Electronics
9. Safeway
10. Thomas Dux Grocer
11. Big W
12. Everyday Money Credit Card (listed by HSBC Bank Australia Limited)
13. Everyday Rewards (including partnership agreements with Qantas)
14. The ALH Group (Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group)

So effectively we've eliminated most major places to do your shopping, buy Alcohol, Petrol, Fresh food and consumer electronics. (JB HiFi is staked by one of the Major Two but I can't remember which one - They also own WOW Sight and Sound) We've also eliminated a major bank, a major airline, a large chunk of the construction industry, Suppliers of other major fuels, Utility companies, Office supplies, kids toys, clothing.... the list just goes on. Then we have to start looking at the alternatives - A lot of what you can get at these places can also be bought online, until you start boycotting the tele-providers who make it all possible, as both Telstra Bigpond and Optus Internet have supplier agreements with the Big Two also - so you boycott them (because they also own all the cabling that the other ISP's use to provide a service), NO MORE INTERNET! And as the Market share of all of these companies tends to be the biggest piece of the pie, effectively, the majority of Australians all support the closure of Wonderland.... so you better boycott them too - become a hermit, cut yourself off from civilisation and all the big bad companies that invested in a site that was in their business' best interests by being co-located on the link between East-West and North-South of Sydney. Edited August 18, 2009 by AlexB

[SuperYoshi]

One word - wow.

Edited August 18, 2009 by Movie_World

[Hendo]

Poor guy is going to starve to death!!!!

[paauly101]

Haha, I didnt like LG for a while after Wonderland closed, but I realised how stupid that was after a while. Its not like LG was the reason Wonderland closed anyway, they just saw the land and took it.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Although from memory, LG had built their warehouse before the park closed....

[SeriouslyPunked]

considering i work for dick smith i don't think i'll be able to boycott them any time soon :-P and you guys are right it would be increasingly hard to boycott an entire corporation that just seems to be buying up everything they can possibly get their hands on ... woolworths have apparently even bought the Ettamogah Pub franchise recently ... also JB Hi-Fi i think is owned by Macquarie Bank, Dick Smith isn't even owned by the Coles or Myer groups so i don't see where u got the idea that i would be boycotting them by boycotting DSE, and the powerhouses are no longer called powerhouses since the format changed, their now Dick Smith Large. O I didn't expect to be taken so seriously about the boycotting thing, but thanks for the passionate and long winded replies!

Edited August 24, 2009 by SeriouslyPunked

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Was there a username change in there somewhere?

[Stef]

Bhahaha lol what a pointless discussion. Dont try and beat 'the man' is the bottom line. Asif they care. The only wonderland closure related company I hold a grudge on are sunway. I'd spit on their faces lol

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

hehehe - and in the latest move in the battle between the giants - Coles (part of Wesfarmers, which includes bunnings) is once again going up against Woolworths - as woolworths announces their own Hardware Chain

[BNErider]

^ Any extra competition is good! However, look at our food prices... not much good competition has done there! Although, Costco looks promising. Has anyone been there yet?

[GoGoBoy]

People should be directing any anger over the closure of Wonderland directly at the greedy company that was responsible for it - Sunway Malaysia

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

look at our food prices... not much good competition has done there! Although, Costco looks promising. Has anyone been there yet?

Thats because there isn't competition in food pricing. Coles and Woolworths have the lion's share of the market, and they don't let anyone else in. 2 Years ago, I picked up a 24 Can pack of Coke at Coles for $6.99 "On Special". Pepsi a year ago $8.49 "On Special". Today, Coles has Pepsi on special for $7.99 on Special, and Woolworths has Coke on special - an 18 can pack for $16........ WTF? It's hard to point the finger at price fixing and the like, but its kinda hard to see how they can justify the pricing - considering a 600ml coke buys for approx $0.90, and sells for $2.80? As for costco, i'm not going to get too excited about it yet. They don't plan for a brisbane store for about 2 years. Sydney will see it next year if melbourne goes well. Personally, I fail to see why melbourne was first off the mark. Sydney would have been a better indicator.

People should be directing any anger over the closure of Wonderland directly at the greedy company that was responsible for it - Sunway Malaysia

I think that has been said, many - MANY times already. Somehow I don't think there is much anger over the closure anymore.

[Bussy]

It's a moronic approach to boycott a company because they have a premise on a bit of land that used to be a theme park. Chances are they don't even own the building or land just lease it from another company. You might as well take all your money out of the bank and hide it in your mattress while you are at it because the banks provide the finance for these kind of developments. For those of you who "boycotted" LG products it is even more stupid because LG were there before Wonderland closed and you not spending $100 on a DVD player, I doubt most of you can afford a couple of thousand dollar TV, made no difference to their bottom line. Bussy

[Gazza]

Personally, I fail to see why Melbourne was first off the mark. Sydney would have been a better indicator.

Why? It's not as if consumers behave any differently between the cities. I know Sydney's a bit bigger, but I've never understood the logic behind them always having to be first for major new stores coming to Australia, especially when they wind up operating in most capitals anyway. (Haha Adelaide and Perth don't have Aldi yet) I mean, Melbourne might have been desirable because the land was cheaper, or a suitable site was more readily available, or because a Sydney store might have to be scaled up compared to the Melbourne one. A trip report I found about the place if anybody is interested. http://ozsoapbox.com/melbourne/the-shoppin...urne-docklands/ It will be good when it comes to Brisbane (Apparently Logan is where it is going, which makes sense since people from the GC would be shopping there too) I'm kind of dissapointed that both times I have been in the US I never got to experience a massive store like Costco, Walmart etc. Edited September 3, 2009 by Gazza

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

Well you do make some good points, but most retail studies on new launches into the marketplace have generally favoured Sydney being the better indicator of overall market trend. It is also generally considered that it is more likely to succeed in Sydney, and therefore, the owners don't go broke before they establish their first store. I worked with a number of retail chains over the years, and with the exception of two (one which came out of melbourne, and one which came out of brisbane), all started in Sydney. The one that started in melbourne established 12 stores in sydney in the space of a year, and in less than 2 months, Sydney was covering the costs of the entire operation nationwide, including an explosion of advertising across the NRL 12 months later. I had the privilege of managing their flagship store - which happened to be in Penrith, which made more profit in some months than some of the Melbourne stores made in an entire year. The other company from Brisbane was a similar story. And yes, they do wind up operating in most capitals anyway, but Sydney is always going to be the biggest market, and therefore the most diverse demographic to address - you can learn some lessons about what Aussies want, without losing out too much because you will have a part of the population already receptive to what you offer, and while they pay your bills, you can adapt your business to suit the others. You can't do that in some other areas as the demographic isn't as diverse, or as populous. Now I know we are going to drag out the success stories of organisations like Boost Juice etc, and I am not discounting them, nor am I defending Sydney because I used to live there. I am only speaking from the experience I have garnered during my time in retail management. As for Aldi - another chain that started out of Sydney, in a little place called Minchinbury. Part of their business plan is to target high population, low income, high convenience areas, with a gap in the market for a competitor. They have avoided Adelaide and Perth to date because it will be difficult to break into the market, with a smaller population that already has a plethora of choice with Woolworths and Coles. Once their recent marketing campaigns show some promise (Aldi until recently did not advertise on TV), they intend on looking into expansion to the west.

[Bussy]

As for Aldi - another chain that started out of Sydney, in a little place called Minchinbury. Part of their business plan is to target high population, low income, high convenience areas, with a gap in the market for a competitor. They have avoided Adelaide and Perth to date because it will be difficult to break into the market, with a smaller population that already has a plethora of choice with Woolworths and Coles. Once their recent marketing campaigns show some promise (Aldi until recently did not advertise on TV), they intend on looking into expansion to the west.

Aldi don't have a store in Minchinbury and their first store in Australia was in Bankstown. What they do have at Minchinbury however is their head office and largest distribution centre, which is about to be surpassed by their Prestons centre which will be opening in the next few months.

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

I was aware that they don't have a store in Minchinbury, Bussy, however, their Sargents rd head office has been there since 2003. My sister works in their buying department, and I had presumed that Minchinbury was where they had started out. It turns out we are both mistaken, as the original registered place of business for Aldi was actually SHOP 206 661 GEORGE ST SYDNEY, followed shortly thereafter by 326 FOREST RD HURSTVILLE NSW 2220. I will stress that this is only the principal place of business, and there were likely other retail locations out there, but the addresses above are the first and principal places of registered business, in April 1999. But my original point, as far as the demographics that they go after, with the exception of the george st location, is that they primarily target that demographic. Substitute the word minchinbury up there with Bankstown, or Hurstville or fairfield (another principal location on a later application) and it still all fits with that demographic. Sure, they are in more affluent areas now, but that is because the affluent areas demanded the same offerings that were available in the less affluent areas.

Edited September 21, 2009 by AlexB