A quick straw poll of suppliers in our market reveals that Dick Smith’s recent Aussie revelation about getting into smalls, boots & all, will happen soon in New Zealand too.

In addition to putting its ConnectedHome 50-200m2 store-in-store format into 85 Australian stores by Christmas, as originally reported in Appliance Retailer, we understand that Dick Smith also plans to install its vehicle for small domestic appliances into 15 New Zealand stores.

The move, which CEO Nick Abboud has called “the most material implant” into the business since the retailer was bought from Woolworths by private equity, has been underlined by the retailer’s recent appointment of the former Myer small appliances buyer.

“We’re putting a whole new business category into Dick Smith, which we’ve not done in three years and it will attract a customer who today can’t buy [appliances] from Dick Smith – we see the big door opening for us with those categories,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald recently.