SYDNEY – Ferrier Hodgson, receiver for the Dick Smith group may have trouble unloading the 16 containers of Chinese-built TVs which it won in a court challenge this week (CDN, yesterday).It has only six weeks to sell the tellies before closing the Dick Smith stores forever – and a Fairfax news report yesterday claimed that Dick Smith-branded products are being left on the shelf in the chain’s fire sales, as shoppers opt instead for the security of big-brand names such Samsung and LG.
The home-brand televisions had been stranded in Dick Smith’s warehouses since the chain collapsed in early January, with Chinese maker Shenzhen MTC demanding – unsuccessfully – that that they be returned. A court hearing this week ordered that they go instead to Dick Smith – now handled by Ferrier Hodgson.
According to Fairfax, it may be hard to sell the tellies, with Dick Smith staff telling it that customers have been asking a lot of questions about the warranties on products like Dick Smith televisions – but in the end most have been opting to go for a well-known brand.
If the tellies do prove hard to move, it’s possible the receiver could on-sell the lot to online retailer Ruslan Kogan, who has bought the Dick Smith online businesses in Australia and NZ, and will operate them separately from his Kogan.com online store. Watch this space .
