By Claire Reilly
midst swathes of yellow and black, Dick Smith opened its newest store in Sydney last night. Located in the CBD Westfield complex, underneath Myer and adjacent to a food court, the store location was chosen for maximum foot traffic according to the retailer's CEO, Nick Abboud.
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With an increased focus on computing, mobility and two new branded store-in-store concepts, there was plenty to see inside the store. Current.com.au took a look around to gain a better understanding of what the future of Dick Smith looks like. Here's what we saw when the doors opened…
Looking across the downstairs food court of Westfield in Sydney's busy Pitt Street Mall, signage points to the new store (pictured in the very rear of the photo).
The Dick Smith store is set amongst fast food outlets in the busy food court.
Inside the store.
On the immediate left next to the entrace, customers are greeted with a Samsung store-in-store space. A new concept for Dick Smith, the area is packed with tablets, computers, smartphones and accessories and is manned by one of Samsung's "Blue Shirt" customer service reps.
Sony also gets a look in with their own store-in-store space, dedicated to TV, audio and digital imaging. There is also a PS4 plinth teasing the launch of the brand's new PlayStation.
Sony Australia general manager of sales, Jeremy Senior, with Nick Abboud in the retailer's Sony section.
Sony's headphone range, like other areas of the Sony section, is branded with lifestyle images to promote the products.
Sony isn't the only brand of headphones in store. The rear wall of the shop is lined with a long row of fashion-forward headphones in any number of designs and colours.
Despite the troubles the TV category has faced, Dick Smith has still devoted one full wall to flat panels — a significant investment in terms of footprint.
Plenty of space is also given over to lower-priced products such as accessories, cases, peripherals and other fast-moving products such as printer ink and batteries.
In time for the first day of trading to the general public today, Dick Smith is offering discounts on ranges such as tablets.
Dick Smith CEO Nick Abboud said the new management team (Dick Smith was sold to Anchorage Capital Partners by former owner Woolworths) was committed to revitalising the brand and increasing "share of voice". One example given was the promise to distribute of catalogues to 6 million customers every week. Here is the first for the new Sydney store.
Click here to read our full wrap-up of the Sydney CBD store opening.