There are 20 outlets in the South Island and 17 in the North Island.
Started in Christchurch in 1918 by Henry Cooper Smith, the Smiths City Group bought three Furniture City stores in Wairau Park on the North Shore, Mount Wellington and Whangarei to aid its expansion into the North Island, Smiths City chief executive Roy Campbell said.
"The acquisition of Furniture City, and the opening of new stores in Taupo and Hastings, have extended our reach into markets that offer long-term growth prospects," Mr Campbell said.
The other two North Island stores will be rebranded before Christmas.
Mr Campbell said the online sales channels did not spell the end of bricks-and-mortar stores.
New Zealand retailers have rising concerns about the spread of US-based Amazon and Chinese online company Alibaba into Australasia.
"The rise of online shopping has resulted in much greater price transparency and significantly intensified competition, requiring retailers to focus on what makes them different and to play to those strengths," Mr Campbell said.
In Smiths City’s core categories of furniture and appliances, Mr Campbell said stores had become more important as customers still wanted to sit on furniture, test a bed’s comfort and actually see whether a refrigerator had all the storage compartments they needed.
Smiths City is in the middle of a five-year turnaround programme and is rolling out refreshed branding across its stores, and relaunching its finance offer in the face of increasing competition, it said for its last trading year result.
Revenue for the year grew 2.5% to $227.4million, net profit before tax rose 53.8% to $2million, while after-tax profit declined from $5.6million a year ago to $2.4million. Last year’s $5.6 million was bolstered by a $1.8million property sale. Last year, Smiths received a $2.5million tax credit, compared with $400,000 this year.
Mr Campbell said Smiths City was in its second year of transformation. New-format stores were being steadily opened, new furniture designs and suppliers had been sourced. It opened the first of its new format stores in Hastings in March.
