It’s the end of an era for Wellington department store Kirkcaldie & Stains as it gets set to close its doors in February 2016. But it’s not all doom and gloom, the site is set to reopen as the first New Zealand store of Australian retailer David Jones, with aims to retain most of the 270 staff.
Dating back to 1863, Kirkcaldie & Stains is the oldest store in New Zealand to still be trading under its own name. Having faced struggles in recent times, the store made the hard decision to close its doors.
Kirks chairman Falcon Clouston spoke to Stuff about the recent decision: "The end of Kirkcaldie & Stains as a much-loved Wellington department store has been a very difficult decision to make, but we believe it is in the best interests of the company, the staff, our customers, and Wellington.”
"I think as a single-large format store, we lacked the scale to compete with the multi-store regional and global operators and the brands that are beginning to dominate that new landscape."
Despite this, Clouston is optimistic about the future of the new store and the affect it will have on Wellington. The chairman believes David Jones will help to "revitalise Lambton Quay".
Image: Instagram.com/DavidJonesStore
