The company had too many stores, had lost sight of its customers and did not offer quality products. ‘Outdated' brand Coriolis Research director Virginia Wilkinson said Postie Plus had been dying slowly in a competitive industry. She says it's a family store and is not sure where she would go if it were to close. They've got good prices, clothes are good quality. Michelle Foster shops there every two months for herself and her children. Inside Postie, however, a couple of customers would be sad to see the outlet go. They would rather shop at Max, Ezibuy or Witchery. Even their adverts seem outdated,' Bain says. They say the shop does not appeal to them. Milly Bain and Tina McCarthy walked past but did not go inside. I think in the last few years they have confused the marketplace as to what they actually are.'Ĭhristchurch's Tower Junction Postie shop was nearly empty this Tuesday around midday. 'They expanded and they went into these high-cost areas. The company's expansion following its listing on the stock market confused customers, he says. 'We tended to steer away from the main centres and the high-cost malls.' Many of the stores under the Dellacas had been in rural areas and smaller towns and did not have that much competition. 'We didn't aim to be high-fashion,' he said. The group had to find a way of cutting costs.īut Dellaca believes the company's troubles started when new management moved away from what Postie used to stand for - value for money, good quality, but affordable clothing for all the family. 'We compete with the Warehouse, Kmart and Farmers for the same customers and we have to fight the war with television, radio and brochures as they do,' Punter said. He summed up the challenges at the December 2012 annual meeting, saying Postie inhabited 'an uneasy middle ground'. Punter acknowledged increased online competition, including from overseas web-based retailers. Postie has struggled to survive in a tough, competitive retail market, with sales declining over the past three years. Postie this week said it had 'proper grounds' to pursue a damages claim in relation to distribution losses.Ĭonfused offerings However, the reasons behind the company's failure go beyond its Auckland distribution problems, others say. 'My understanding is that it lost them effectively a season's trading,' Dellaca said. He blamed the company's $11.6m loss for the year to August 2013 mostly on the company's distribution woes, likening Postie's situation to the Government's struggles with Novopay.Ī member of the Postie chain's founding family, Kerry Dellaca, said the outsourcing of the distribution operation to Kuehne & Nagel had been 'disastrous for the company'.ĭellaca said the family's combined shareholding was probably less than 3 per cent these days.

Last year the company's chairman, Richard Punter, said this knocked the company off course, caused critical delays in getting stock to stores and forced the company into costly discounting to get some sales traction. The pilot fill of stock was plagued with issues.

The company had moved its warehousing distribution operations and head office from Christchurch to Auckland following the 2011 earthquakes.

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