Dick Smith Electronics
Encyclopedia
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
retailer, founded in 1968 by Richard "Dick" Smith
Dick Smith (entrepreneur)
Dick Smith, AO is an Australian entrepreneur, businessman, aviator, and political activist. He is the founder of Dick Smith Electronics, Dick Smith Foods and Australian Geographic, and was selected as the 1986 Australian of the Year.-Electronics:In 1968, Dick Smith founded electronics retailer...
. Today, it is a subsidiary of Woolworths Limited
Woolworths Limited
Woolworths Limited is a major Australian company with extensive retail interest throughout Australia and New Zealand. It is the:* largest retail company in Australia and New Zealand by market capitalisation and sales...
, incorporating Tandy
Tandy (Australia)
Tandy was an electronics retailer in Australia, owned by Woolworths Limited.-History:Tandy was originally founded in the United States in 1950 as Tandy Leather Company. In 1963, Tandy changed its business to electronics when it acquired control of RadioShack, a forty year old electronics business...
, and the remaining Dick Smith Powerhouse Stores. Founder Dick Smith no longer owns any part of the company.
The business started as a small car radio
Car radio
Car radio may refer to:*a radio in a car. See car audio and in car entertainment*"Car Radio", a song by Spoon from their 1998 album A Series of Sneaks...
installation business in the Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
suburb of Artarmon, New South Wales
Artarmon, New South Wales
Artarmon is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Artarmon is located 9 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Willoughby.-History:...
, and has expanded to employ over 2,000 people. It is co-major sponsor of AFL
Australian Football League
The Australian Football League is both the governing body and the major professional competition in the sport of Australian rules football...
club the Richmond Tigers since 2008.
Early days
The business started in 1968 in a small rented space below a car park in the SydneySydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
suburb of Artarmon, New South Wales
Artarmon, New South Wales
Artarmon is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Artarmon is located 9 kilometres north-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Willoughby.-History:...
, with a total capital of only $610. In 1969 the business's success required it to move to bigger premises. After touring overseas electronic stores to study modern merchandising
Merchandising
Merchandising is the methods, practices, and operations used to promote and sustain certain categories of commercial activity. In the broadest sense, merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer...
methods, Smith introduced self-serve shopping and produced a mail-order annual catalogue with a substantial data section. To ensure almost every electronic enthusiast in Australia had one of his catalogues, it was included free in the popular electronics magazines such as Electronics Australia
Electronics Australia
Electronics Australia was Australia's longest-running general electronics magazine.It can claim to trace its history to 1922 when the Wireless Weekly magazine was formed. Its content was a mix of general and technical articles on the new topic of radio....
and Electronics Today International. This catalogue is no longer being produced, the last issue being 2009.
Stunts
The company was promoted through the annual catalogue, wacky ads (e.g. the "Electronic Dick") and publicity stunts. For example Smith claimed that he would tow an icebergIceberg
An iceberg is a large piece of ice from freshwater that has broken off from a snow-formed glacier or ice shelf and is floating in open water. It may subsequently become frozen into pack ice...
from Antarctica to Sydney Harbour, cut it up into small bits and sell it. However he instead towed a man-made iceberg, constructed on a barge, with a big sheet of white plastic and fire-fighting foam as an April fool's joke. The profile of Dick Smith Electronics grew.
Expansion
The company profited immensely from the CB radioCitizens' band radio
Citizens' Band radio is, in many countries, a system of short-distance radio communications between individuals on a selection of 40 channels within the 27-MHz band. Citizens' Band is distinct from the FRS, GMRS, MURS and amateur radio...
boom of the 1970s and by the end of the decade had stores in all mainland states. Though many CB radio stores closed when interest waned from the early 1980s, Dick Smith Electronics survived thanks to strong sales in other areas. These included its established electronic components and kit lines (thousands of people started with the 'Fun Way' series and worked their way up to assembling Playmaster amplifiers and speakers), Yaesu
Yaesu (brand)
Yaesu is an international brand of commercial and amateur radio equipment.It was founded as in 1959 by a Japanese radio amateur Sako Hasegawa with callsign JA1MP in the Tokyo neighborhood of Yaesu...
amateur radio (the company had secured the exclusive dealership) and Uniden-Bearcat scanners.
Also important was the fast-growing personal computer market. The company sold well-known models such as the Commodore VIC-20
Commodore VIC-20
The VIC-20 is an 8-bit home computer which was sold by Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commodore's first personal computer, the PET...
and Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
. It also sold own-brand models, such as the System 80
Video Genie
Video Genie was a series of computers produced by Hong Kong-based manufacturer EACA during the early 1980s. They were compatible with the Tandy TRS-80 Model I computers and could be considered a clone, although there were hardware and software differences.The computers making up the series...
which was compatible with the Tandy TRS-80 Model I
TRS-80
TRS-80 was Tandy Corporation's desktop microcomputer model line, sold through Tandy's Radio Shack stores in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The first units, ordered unseen, were delivered in November 1977, and rolled out to the stores the third week of December. The line won popularity with...
, the Dick Smith Cat (an Apple II
Apple II
The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...
clone), the VZ-200 and VZ-300. In 1981, the Super-80
Dick Smith Super-80 Computer
The Dick Smith Super-80 was a Zilog Z80 based kit computer developed as a joint venture between Electronics Australia magazine and Dick Smith Electronics...
kit computer was developed as a joint venture between the company and Electronics Australia
Electronics Australia
Electronics Australia was Australia's longest-running general electronics magazine.It can claim to trace its history to 1922 when the Wireless Weekly magazine was formed. Its content was a mix of general and technical articles on the new topic of radio....
magazine.
The company was particularly innovative in its product range, especially during the 1970s and 1980s. Some such forays paid off, while others were soon abandoned. Examples of briefly stocked items in the 1980s included Heathkit
Heathkit
Heathkits were products of the Heath Company, Benton Harbor, Michigan. Their products included electronic test equipment, high fidelity home audio equipment, television receivers, amateur radio equipment, electronic ignition conversion modules for early model cars with point style ignitions, and...
electronic kits, satellite TV receiving stations and, foreshadowing near-universal mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
ownership, Beeple pagers. More successful was the Dick Smith Wizzard, which earned a cult following amongst computer gamers.
Before telephone
Telephone
The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...
equipment was de-regulated in 1984, Australian consumers could only have two different types of telephones in three different colours. DSE was a major source of "non-type approved" telephone equipment. A broad range of answering machines, cordless and novelty phones were offered; despite the fine print warning that they were not 'type approved', thousands were sold anyway. Soon after, the market was de-regulated so that anyone could buy an approved phone and plug it in.
The Woolworths takeover and range changes
In 1980, the company had grown to 20 stores and the company's working capital was so much that he sold 60% of the company's working share to Woolworths LimitedWoolworths Limited
Woolworths Limited is a major Australian company with extensive retail interest throughout Australia and New Zealand. It is the:* largest retail company in Australia and New Zealand by market capitalisation and sales...
. Smith sold the balance to Woolworths in 1982 and it took full ownership of the company. The company continued to add to its network of small "main street" stores in suburbs and regional cities across Australia. Today there are about 200 company-owned Dick Smith Electronics stores, with authorised stockists in country areas.
Though the company has almost always stocked items that would appeal to the general non-technical/non-hobbyist consumer
Consumer
Consumer is a broad label for any individuals or households that use goods generated within the economy. The concept of a consumer occurs in different contexts, so that the usage and significance of the term may vary.-Economics and marketing:...
, as the years went on these items took up an increasing proportion of floor space. Die-hard enthusiasts often bemoaned that Dick Smith Electronics was becoming like Tandy, a competitor in the consumer electronics business which generally stocked non-technical/non-hobbyist ranges with a small range of over-priced components in bubble-packs.
After rapid growth in the 1970s and 1980s, Tandy stagnated and suffered management problems at its USA headquarters. Woolworths purchased Tandy in 2001-2002, so that both Tandy and Dick Smith became part of the same group. With the takeover, some Tandy stores were closed while others became Dick Smith Electronics stores. Both stores have overlaps in their product range with DSE (Dick Smith Electronics) products being available in Tandy outlets.
Powerhouse
The late 1990s saw the company establish "Dick Smith Electronics Powerhouse" super-stores across the east-coast of Australia. The first PowerHouse store was opened in Bankstown, New South WalesBankstown, New South Wales
Bankstown is a suburb of south-western Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Bankstown is located 20 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the local government area of the City of Bankstown.-History:Prior to European...
, in 1996. These were several times bigger than regular stores and contained departments for the main product categories and supermarket-style checkouts. The "Powerhouses", as they were known, carried a wider range of products than the smaller DSE stores, especially in the computing, audio-visual and amateur radio areas, and introduced Music to the range. Some installation services were also introduced as well as Computer repairs and upgrading. Whilst the concept was well received in the first few years, there were some within Woolworths who felt that they should be smaller versions of their Big W stores, with less emphasis on Customer Service.
In 2002-2003 the Powerhouse concept changed to focus on a broader consumer market and less towards electronics enthusiasts. Component ranges shrank and general electronics
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
books ceased to be stocked. The Yaesu dealership was relinquished, ending a 27-year partnership. Electronic Kits were transferred to the smaller DSE stores and were replaced by small appliances such as kettles, coffeemakers, toasters and frypans which were removed in late 2008. In late 2007, Powerhouse stores also transferred many other small components, tools, leads and connectors continuing to distance the super-stores from the company's roots.
In 2007, Dick Smith Powerhouse stores introduced a home installation service known as 'PowerSquad' to install major items such as TVs and Computer systems or to provide set-up and training on smaller items such as wireless networks and MP3 players. The Powerhouse name was retired in 2009 as part of the company's rebranding. These stores are now known internally as Dick Smith 'Large Format'. The home installation service was relaunched in 2009 as 'Mobile Techxpert Services' inline with the company's new branding.
2008 rebranding
Hornsby, New South Wales
* Highest Maximum Temperature: 42 °C* Lowest Maximum Temperature: 4.9 °C* Warmest Month: January* Coolest Month: July* Highest Precipitation: February* Lowest Precipitation: July-Notable residents:...
DSE store as a 'concept' under the branding "Dick Smith Technology". The store's design and product range was completely reworked incorporating a more modern feel while removing all electrical componentry and much of its tools. These products were replaced with a larger range of computers, gaming, televisions and Macintosh
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
computers, much of which had previously been only sold in Powerhouse stores. After a dramatic increase in sales for the store, the Hornsby concept store ended the Christmas period of sales as the highest-selling Dick Smith Electronics store in the country.
Powerhouse style stores, now "Large Format Stores" have recently opened in Chadstone Shopping Centre
Chadstone Shopping Centre
Chadstone Shopping Centre is a super regional shopping centre located in the inner south-eastern suburb of Malvern East in the city of Melbourne, Australia...
and Bendigo
Bendigo, Victoria
Bendigo is a major regional city in the state of Victoria, Australia, located very close to the geographical centre of the state and approximately north west of the state capital Melbourne. It is the second largest inland city and fourth most populous city in the state. The estimated urban...
in Victoria, Innaloo
Innaloo, Western Australia
Innaloo is a suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia, and it is located 9 km from Perth's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Stirling....
, Perth central business district
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Marion, South Australia
Oaklands Park, South Australia
Oaklands Park is a suburb of Adelaide, South Australia in the City of Marion. The Marion Shopping Centre is the suburb's main attraction.- History :On 14 December 1906, Oaklands was bought by Thomas Currie Tait for £15,000....
and Rockingham
Rockingham, Western Australia
Rockingham is a suburb and primary centre in Western Australia south-west of the Perth city centre and south of Fremantle. It has a beachside location at Mangles Bay, the southern extremity of Cockburn Sound. To its north stretches the maritime and resource-industry installations of Kwinana and...
in Western Australia, Hobart
Hobart
Hobart is the state capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Founded in 1804 as a penal colony,Hobart is Australia's second oldest capital city after Sydney. In 2009, the city had a greater area population of approximately 212,019. A resident of Hobart is known as...
in Tasmania, and Stockland Rockhampton
Stockland Rockhampton
Stockland Rockhampton is a major shopping centre, located on Bruce Highway in Park Avenue, a suburb of Rockhampton.-History and development:...
in Queensland, under new "Dick Smith - Talk to the Techxperts" branding. The new format stores have a refreshed look and logo, carry a similar range as all other Powerhouse stores minus the electrical components, plugs and sockets, with more of a focus on technology such as computers, entertainment and communications. This format will eventually replace the whole Dick Smith brand. In March 2009, Woolworths Limited
Woolworths Limited
Woolworths Limited is a major Australian company with extensive retail interest throughout Australia and New Zealand. It is the:* largest retail company in Australia and New Zealand by market capitalisation and sales...
CEO Michael Luscombe
Michael Luscombe
Michael Luscombe is an Australian businessman. He is the former CEO and Managing Director of Woolworths Limited, the largest retail company in Australia.-Early life:Luscombe was educated at De La Salle College, Malvern and Monash University...
confirmed the end of Powerhouse as a separate entity, also adding the companies third consumer electronics brand Tandy
Tandy (Australia)
Tandy was an electronics retailer in Australia, owned by Woolworths Limited.-History:Tandy was originally founded in the United States in 1950 as Tandy Leather Company. In 1963, Tandy changed its business to electronics when it acquired control of RadioShack, a forty year old electronics business...
would be gradually phased out over the next three years as the stores leases end. This phase will leave Dick Smith as the sole brand in the companies consumer electronics division.
The Dick Smith brand
Dick Smith Electronics has also long been known for its 'home brand' range of electronics which fall under the brand name "Dick Smith" (Formally called DSE, a commonly used abbreviation of Dick Smith Electronics). Although initially, in the 1980s, the focus of the DSE brand was on phones, telephony equipment and some components, the brand has since expanded into a large range of various electronic devices and components with less focus on telephony. In 2007 the DSE brand produced a wide range of products including portable DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
players, TV set top boxes, aerials, AV receivers and amplifiers, NiCad and NiMH Rechargeable batteries as well as alkaline and lithium batteries, digital cameras, speakers, a large range of flash memory devices, UHF radios, webcams and a large range of Ethernet, Crossover, USB, Composite AV, Component AV, 240V AC cables.
A number of the DSE brand products are re-branded products from third party manufacturers and are often sold alongside their original manufacturers version of the product. An example of this is DSE's SD card
Secure Digital card
Secure Digital is a non-volatile memory card format developed by the SD Card Association for use in portable devices. The SD technology is used by more than 400 brands across dozens of product categories and more than 8,000 models, and is considered the de-facto industry standard.Secure Digital...
range which are manufactured by A-DATA and sold alongside A-DATA's own SD cards in many stores.
New Zealand
In New ZealandNew Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, Dick Smith Electronics has over 75 locations including the "PowerHouse" stores, the first being in Hamilton
Hamilton, New Zealand
Hamilton is the centre of New Zealand's fourth largest urban area, and Hamilton City is the country's fourth largest territorial authority. Hamilton is in the Waikato Region of the North Island, approximately south of Auckland...
, then Manukau
Manukau
Manukau City was a large territorial authority in Auckland, New Zealand. The city was sometimes referred to as South Auckland, but this term did not possess official recognition and did not encompass areas like East Auckland, which was previously within the official boundaries of Manukau City...
, followed by Sylvia Park
Sylvia Park
Sylvia Park is a large business park and shopping centre in the Auckland, New Zealand suburb of Mount Wellington. Less commonly known, the area around the centre is also called Sylvia Park...
in Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, and Palmerston North
Palmerston North
Palmerston North is the main city of the Manawatu-Wanganui region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is an inland city with a population of and is the country's seventh largest city and eighth largest urban area. Palmerston North is located in the eastern Manawatu Plains near the north bank...
. A third brand "Dick Smith Technology" store has also been opened in Lower Hutt
Lower Hutt
Lower Hutt is a city in the Wellington region of New Zealand. Its council has adopted the name Hutt City Council, but neither the New Zealand Geographic Board nor the Local Government Act recognise the name Hutt City. This alternative name can lead to confusion, as there are two cities in the...
, following the same PowerHouse product range. Its e-commerce
Electronic commerce
Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce, eCommerce or e-comm, refers to the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. However, the term may refer to more than just buying and selling products online...
website uses a search engine
Search engine
A search engine is an information retrieval system designed to help find information stored on a computer system. The search results are usually presented in a list and are commonly called hits. Search engines help to minimize the time required to find information and the amount of information...
by SLI Systems
SLI Systems
SLI Systems is a privately owned company that sells site search software for large content-based e-commerce websites. It was founded in 2001 by people from New Zealand and America. The acronym part of the company name stands for Search, Learn and Improve, which refers to the way the software learns...
that learns from what the users search for. The 'Talk to the Techxperts' now 'Dick Does' rebranding has commenced in New Zealand including the Westfield Riccarton
Westfield Riccarton
Westfield Riccarton, formerly Riccarton Mall, is a large retail complex in Christchurch, New Zealand. It's located at 129 Riccarton Road, 3 km from the city's CBD....
new concept store, which opened on May 28, 2009.
India
In 2006 Woolworths (parent company of Dick Smith) and the Tata Group of IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
announced an electronics retailing venture on the subcontinent. Due to the legal framework, foreign companies are prevented from operating retail businesses in India. Due to this, Woolworths will act as a wholesaler to the Tata Group. Woolworths manages the buying, marketing and IT support for the joint venture. The stores are based on the Dick Smith format but trade under the Croma brand. As is the case with head of Dick Smith New Zealand, Woolworths' head of Croma operations reports to General Manager - Australia, New Zealand and India.
United States
In 1985, the first branch was opened in the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
at 390 Convention Way, Redwood City, California
Redwood City, California
Redwood City is a California charter city located on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California, approximately 27 miles south of San Francisco, and 24 miles north of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans from its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people, to its tradition as a port for...
. The location served as the main office, mail order centre, kit assembly area and retail store. Additional stores were opened in Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley, California
Berkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
; Stevens Creek Boulevard, San Jose, California
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
; and in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Within a few years the US operation was sold.