After 145 years on New Zealand’s high street, Smith & Caughey’s has shut its doors.
The Auckland department store, a fixture of Queen Street and a touchstone of Kiwi retail, brought forward its final trading day to June 15, 2025, drawing crowds of loyal customers for one last look.
A century-and-a-half on Queen Street
Founded in 1880, the retailer grew into a household name known for elegant window displays, attentive service, and a carefully curated offer of fashion, beauty, and homewares.
Through world wars, recessions, and retail cycles, the brand endured—until the economics of the post-pandemic city centre and the digital shift proved overwhelming.
“It’s a heartbreaking decision, and our attention right now is on our staff,” the company said when confirming the closure.
Why the end became inevitable
Foot traffic in the CBD has been slower to recover, discretionary spending is under pressure, and online rivals set a relentless pace on price, choice, and convenience.
The business tried to adapt—closing the Newmarket store in 2024 and shrinking the Queen Street footprint—but a “perfect storm” of higher costs, softer sales, and structural change left no sustainable path.
Traditional department store vs. digital-first retail
| Aspect | Legacy Department Store | Digital-First Competitors |
|---|---|---|
| Customer journey | In-store discovery, curated service | App/web search, algorithmic recommendations |
| Cost structure | Large CBD premises, staff-heavy | Lean warehousing, automated fulfillment |
| Assortment | Edited, brand-led | Vast, long tail inventory |
| Pricing power | Premium, experience-based | Dynamic, price-comparison driven |
| Resilience to shocks | Vulnerable to footfall swings | Diversified traffic, 24/7 access |
What New Zealanders loved about the brand
- Iconic windows and service that turned shopping into a ritual
- Quality labels and expert advice, especially in beauty and fashion
- A meeting place in the heart of Auckland—memories across generations
- Seasonal events and displays that became part of the city’s calendar
The human impact
Behind the headlines are people: long-tenured staff, suppliers, and nearby businesses that relied on the magnet effect of a landmark store.
Reports point to the loss of around 98 jobs, and an emotional farewell from shoppers who queued for the “End of an Era” sale and the final nostalgic window display.
When legacy meets a digital era
Smith & Caughey’s exit underscores a global inflection point: even beloved heritage retailers must reconcile brand magic with the hard math of omnichannel economics.
Nostalgia draws crowds for a closing day; habit keeps them coming back the rest of the year. In 2025, habit increasingly lives on the home screen.
Honestly, was the digital shift really the killer or did nostalgia blind us to the brand’s refusal to actually innovate? Just saying.
*maths
Complacency killed them way before the digital shift—technology just exposed the rot everyone ignored.
Honestly, was the digital shift really the killer, or did Kiwis just stop caring about local history for flashy online deals? Weird times.
Maybe Kiwis never cared; the digital shift just exposed the real priorities—cheap deals over culture.
The sad fact about Smith & Caughey is not simply the challenge of online. It is more purely one of vertical brands who occupy both brick & mortar along with an online presence undercutting their “wholesale” customers.
Vertical brands in many cases use their vertical margins promote lower prices than their wholesale customers can be competitive on. Add to this that vertical brands in mant cases artificially mark up to mark down and it’s easy to see Smith & Caughey simply became uncompetitive on many of their core brands.
Switching to non vertical brand names helps provide a point of difference but in the slow moving world of department stores this necessary pivot takes too long to educate an existing customer base. Loyalty goes out the door when price becomes a primary reason.
So sad. That shop created so many memories. Thanks for fighting to the last.
Honestly, was the shutdown really about digital shopping, or just poor management refusing to adapt? Seems like nostalgia blinded them too long.
Exactly! Clinging to nostalgia isn’t strategy—it’s a death wish in today’s market. Wake up!
Exactly! “Inevitable” sounds like an excuse, not a strategy. Adapt or die, seriously.
how about some photos of the store’s display ya animals
For some the city trip is now just too hard. Carparking is disappearing and expensive.
Amazing Store that lasted for so long! I enjoyed browsing, shopping & having coffee or lunch with friends & workmates in their Cafe upstairs.Loved watching their beautiful window displays especially Christmas times.Good luck to all staff that served this Iconic Store.
Exactly. Nostalgia made us overlook how slow and outdated they really were before digital even hit.
I came from Whangarei. Not often but every time I visited Auckland.
The service was impeccable. A lot of things were out of my price range but I always found something with help from the lovely ladies.
I missed you when I came last week but I understand.
The end of an eta.
Thank you.
Honestly, was the digital shift really the death knell, or did nostalgia blind us from seeing the brand’s real, deeper issues?
Exactly! Nostalgia’s a crutch—ignoring poor management and outdated models didn’t help either.
I remember working doing electrical cabling downstairs in the store and seeing graffiti dating from the first world war there – very moving
Wow! Hope they’ve got photos of that. It’s such a huge loss, all that history 😢
Honestly, was the digital shift really the killer, or did Kiwis just stop caring about supporting homegrown brands? Feels like loyalty vanished first.
Loyalty didn’t vanish; convenience and price killed support. Blaming Kiwis is just an excuse.
This is very sad & symptomatic of a way of life that has disappeared forever from Auckland & we are the poorer for it, much like George Courts Dept store on K.Rd & the long gone Farmers Dept store, Smith & Caugheys was the last holdout, the last icon of Auckland retail, a beautiful & elegant Store which pretty much catered for people of means rather than the ordinary joe but had great sales, they even had a Barbershop in the Mens dept, but the thing I missed the most was the Cafe on the Top floor, I used to go there every Friday night during the 1990’s & because of the Dinner service with beautiful meals & deserts then they remodelled the Cafe & got rid of the previous Catering outfit & it was the beginning of the end as far as I was concerned?
Exactly! Blaming digital retail is easy—real issue was ignoring what Kiwi customers actually wanted.
Just another NZ store that can’t compete with Chinese junk, NZ is doomed as we totally rely on China.. seriously bring back made in NZ, I would rather pay more for quality then Payless for Grap.