Smith & Caughey's closure

The story so far

Auckland department store Smith & Caughey's announced in May 2025 that it would close its Queen Street store and online business after a consultation on viability, with 98 redundancies.^{21 May 2025} The closing date was brought forward, and the store ceased trading on 15 June after 145 years, following a closing-down sale that sold most of its stock.^{11 Jun 2025; 10 Jul 2025} The retailer had closed its Newmarket store the year before.^{21 May 2025} In July, its remaining fixtures and surplus stock, including clothing racks, gold mannequins and Santa's Grotto decorations, were set for auction.^{10 Jul 2025} The board then confirmed plans to sell the Auckland CBD site, which has four buildings, one a category 1 listed building on Queen Street.^{29 Jul 2025}

Latest

The board has confirmed plans to sell the Auckland CBD site and has been seeking proposals from large real estate agencies.^{29 Jul 2025}

Key moments

1. 21 May 2025Closure of Queen Street store and online business announced, with 98 redundancies.
2. 11 Jun 2025Closing date brought forward to Sunday, six weeks early.
3. 10 Jul 2025Store ceased trading on 15 June after 145 years.
4. 10 Jul 2025Fixtures, mannequins and Santa's Grotto items set for auction.
5. 29 Jul 2025Board confirms plans to sell the Auckland CBD site.

Written from the stories below; each sentence links to its sources.