Dick Smith is no more

On Mon, 1 Jun 2009 01:31:29 +1000, "Phil Allison" <phil_a@tpg.com.au>
wrote:

"Geoff Steer"

"AFTER a period of less than inspiring sales figures, retail chain Dick
Smith has lost face - Dick Smith's face, that is."

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25565118-2,00.html

I know that Dick hasn't been involved with these stores for 20 years or
so but it's still a bit sad.
I can remember shopping at his first store at Gore Hill in the days he
used to serve behind the counter. In the days when they still sold
electronic components.


** Dick Smith stores still sell electronic components - dickhead.
Click to expand...
Or did. I went into Brisbane store today to buy a fuse holder and they
were packing up all the components, plugs, sockets etc. into boxes.
Not sure what they were doing, but I can only guess
 
The Real Andy wrote:
On Mon, 1 Jun 2009 01:31:29 +1000, "Phil Allison" <phil_a@tpg.com.au
wrote:

"Geoff Steer"
"AFTER a period of less than inspiring sales figures, retail chain Dick
Smith has lost face - Dick Smith's face, that is."

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25565118-2,00.html

I know that Dick hasn't been involved with these stores for 20 years or
so but it's still a bit sad.
I can remember shopping at his first store at Gore Hill in the days he
used to serve behind the counter. In the days when they still sold
electronic components.

** Dick Smith stores still sell electronic components - dickhead.


Or did. I went into Brisbane store today to buy a fuse holder and they
were packing up all the components, plugs, sockets etc. into boxes.
Not sure what they were doing, but I can only guess
Click to expand...
I've long wondered why Dick Smith even stock electronic components. It's
hard to imagine they make a profit from them, particularly when their
failed stock control results in the consumption of significant staff
time for customers who only wanted to spend a dollar or two, and
probably end up not spending even that.

Sylvia.
 
Sylvia Else wrote:
I've long wondered why Dick Smith even stock electronic components.
It's hard to imagine they make a profit from them, particularly when
their failed stock control results in the consumption of significant
staff time for customers who only wanted to spend a dollar or two, and
probably end up not spending even that.

Sylvia.
Click to expand...
Originally it was a condition of sale of the chain from Mr Dick, that they
maintain electronic component sales.

Since then it has drifted from goodwill and service, to grudging, to now
'marginal'. Maybe they should rename to Dick Smith Appliances and be done
with it.....

If I was Dick I'd be suing them for misuse of his good (albeit slightly
nerdy) name.

geoff
 
In article <78fm6oF1lj8fdU1@mid.individual.net>, phil_a@tpg.com.au
says...
"Geoff Steer"

"AFTER a period of less than inspiring sales figures, retail chain Dick
Smith has lost face - Dick Smith's face, that is."

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25565118-2,00.html

I know that Dick hasn't been involved with these stores for 20 years or
so but it's still a bit sad.
I can remember shopping at his first store at Gore Hill in the days he
used to serve behind the counter. In the days when they still sold
electronic components.


** Dick Smith stores still sell electronic components - dickhead.
Click to expand...
You know exactly what he means, you bipolar, flat dwelling, empty shell
that you are.
 
In article <AvWdnSEMgtUnyrnXnZ2dnVY3go6dnZ2d@giganews.com>,
geoff@nospam-paf.co.nz says...
Phil Allison wrote:
"Geoff Steer"

"AFTER a period of less than inspiring sales figures, retail chain
Dick Smith has lost face - Dick Smith's face, that is."

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25565118-2,00.html

I know that Dick hasn't been involved with these stores for 20 years
or so but it's still a bit sad.
I can remember shopping at his first store at Gore Hill in the days
he used to serve behind the counter. In the days when they still sold
electronic components.


** Dick Smith stores still sell electronic components - dickhead.

Barely. And every time I go in, more barely.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure what purpose DS serves these days. May as well go to
Retravison or Hardly's. I'm sure DS (and probably Tandy as well) are in
their final years of existence.
 
Hi,

Jeßus wrote:

I'm not sure what purpose DS serves these days. May as well go to
Retravison or Hardly's. I'm sure DS (and probably Tandy as well) are in
their final years of existence.
Click to expand...
Tandy was already useless over 10 years ago. They have been owned by DSE
for a while now, so it isn't hard to figure out what their purpose is...

Regards,

Ross..
 
Ross Vumbaca wrote:
Hi,

Jeßus wrote:

I'm not sure what purpose DS serves these days. May as well go to
Retravison or Hardly's. I'm sure DS (and probably Tandy as well) are
in their final years of existence.

Tandy was already useless over 10 years ago. They have been owned by DSE
for a while now, so it isn't hard to figure out what their purpose is...
Click to expand...
Do they still sell single resistors in shrink wrapped packaging?

Sylvia.
 
what he still means low life is that they sell more consumer crap ,
radios, toys , phones etc.... now than electronic components , then again
you wouldnt know cause you dont go into electronics stores cause you dont
do electronics.



"Phil Allison" <phil_a@tpg.com.au> wrote in message
news:78fm6oF1lj8fdU1@mid.individual.net...
"Geoff Steer"

"AFTER a period of less than inspiring sales figures, retail chain Dick
Smith has lost face - Dick Smith's face, that is."

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25565118-2,00.html

I know that Dick hasn't been involved with these stores for 20 years or
so but it's still a bit sad.
I can remember shopping at his first store at Gore Hill in the days he
used to serve behind the counter. In the days when they still sold
electronic components.


** Dick Smith stores still sell electronic components - dickhead.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

If the news story is to be believed - the new Woolworth's bred marketing
manager, Brent Allan, is less than a half wit.

Quote:
"I was the man who removed the face," Allan says.

"The head was very old and daggy.

I didn't have any reason to keep it.

And Electronics meant jugs, kettles and stuff. "



Brent must be the same congenital fuckwit who came up with:

" Talk to the Techxperts "

Infuriates the hell out of the staff every time they see it.

Peeeeeukkkkkeeeeeee.............





..... Phil
Click to expand...
 
ha, ha, classic !!!!!!!



"geoff" <geoff@nospam-paf.co.nz> wrote in message
news:6OadnVbgKbufxbnXnZ2dnVY3goSdnZ2d@giganews.com...
Mark Harriss wrote:
Don McKenzie wrote:
Sylvia Else wrote:

I was told by the sales assistant that the "Powerhouse" distinction
is dead now anyway.

At Broadmeadows Vic, they have their new "Techxperts" big store, and
a normal store that has been there for years. I can't see this
lasting long at all.

They dropped their Tandy shop several months ago.

Don...





Dick Smith Mulgrave Road Cairns closed recently I heard, I haven't
been there for over 6 months as a new Jaycar opened across the road
from them and it wasn't worth the effort any longer: they haven't had
10K resistors for 4 years now as their computer said they had heaps in
stock when there was none on the shelves: way too many examples of
poor stock control.

You mean there were no 2.7 ohm resistors in the 10K drawer, even ....

geoff
Click to expand...
 
please stop , this is getting REAL funny !!


"Sylvia Else" <sylvia@not.at.this.address> wrote in message
news:0005c5a7$0$5793$c3e8da3@news.astraweb.com...
geoff wrote:

You mean there were no 2.7 ohm resistors in the 10K drawer, even ....

Dang it - I was after some 2.7 ohm the other day, and there were
apparently none. It didn't occur to me to check the 10K drawer.

Sylvia.
Click to expand...
 
ha he ha !!!


"L.A.T." <tt92@ispdr.net.au> wrote in message
news:difVl.15567$y61.15355@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
I know what a blacksmith does and I know what a silversmith does and I
know what a locksmith does.
I have heard of coppersmiths, gunsmiths and goldsmiths, and I can imagine
what they do, too.
Click to expand...
 
On Sun, 31 May 2009 15:20:52 +0000, Geoff Steer wrote:

"AFTER a period of less than inspiring sales figures, retail chain Dick

I know that Dick hasn't been involved with these stores for 20 years or
so but it's still a bit sad.
Click to expand...
Rubarb, the man was just a purveyor of cheap crap from overseas right
from the start.
 
"terryc"
Geoff Steer wrote:
I know that Dick hasn't been involved with these stores for 20 years or
so but it's still a bit sad.

Rubarb, the man was just a purveyor of cheap crap from overseas right
from the start.
Click to expand...

** Not right from the start - in the first few years, DSE bought a lot of
Aussie made components, put them into kits and sold many other Aussie made
items plus some foreign made stuff bought from local Aussie importers.

Then the business nearly went broke and the saviour was to direct import
lots of components and stuff from Asia.

The CB radio craze ( Dick was part responsible for getting the law changed )
was a major earner in the mid to late 70s and that put DSE on the path to
success.



..... Phil
 
"terryc" <newssevenspam-spam@woa.com.au> wrote in message
news:4a29ba5c$0$9150$c30e37c6@pit-reader.telstra.net...
On Sun, 31 May 2009 15:20:52 +0000, Geoff Steer wrote:

"AFTER a period of less than inspiring sales figures, retail chain Dick

I know that Dick hasn't been involved with these stores for 20 years or
so but it's still a bit sad.

Rubarb, the man was just a purveyor of cheap crap from overseas right
from the start.
Click to expand...
What components are made in Australia?
True, quite a few decades ago some stuff (speakers, transformers etc) were
made here in Australia by Rola, Plessey, AR etc, but that was yonks back.
AFAIK semiconductors were probably never manufactured here, with most
components sourced for OS.

Dick Smith popularised DIY electronics nationally by making the components
accessible and affordable to most hobbyists.
Yes, in some cities, smaller companies did the same like Stan Willis (Willis
Trading Company), Atkins-Carlyle and a number of others here in Perth WA.
It wasn't until later that Kitsets Australia appeared that along with Dick
Smith supported the local electronics magazines of Electronics Australia and
ETI in making fully worked kits of their projects widely available to the
home constructor.

It wasn't until years later (probably when Woollies took over) that the
stores undertook a change to WIMHO is "junk electronics". But tricky Dick
wasn't the only one. A quick stroll around any Jaycar store and you've
easily be forgiven for thinking you were in Toys 'r' us. :p
 
mark krawczuk wrote:
ha he ha !!!


"L.A.T." <tt92@ispdr.net.au> wrote in message
news:difVl.15567$y61.15355@news-server.bigpond.net.au...
I know what a blacksmith does and I know what a silversmith does and I
know what a locksmith does.
I have heard of coppersmiths, gunsmiths and goldsmiths, and I can imagine
what they do, too.
Click to expand...
Must be why that used to have that coupon "Sorry Dick, it doesn't work",
in which case you needed to take it to a dicksmith ...
 
Alan Rutlidge wrote:
"terryc" <newssevenspam-spam@woa.com.au> wrote in message
news:4a29ba5c$0$9150$c30e37c6@pit-reader.telstra.net...
On Sun, 31 May 2009 15:20:52 +0000, Geoff Steer wrote:

"AFTER a period of less than inspiring sales figures, retail chain Dick
I know that Dick hasn't been involved with these stores for 20 years or
so but it's still a bit sad.
Rubarb, the man was just a purveyor of cheap crap from overseas right
from the start.

What components are made in Australia?
True, quite a few decades ago some stuff (speakers, transformers etc) were
made here in Australia by Rola, Plessey, AR etc, but that was yonks back.
AFAIK semiconductors were probably never manufactured here, with most
components sourced for OS.
Click to expand...
Semiconductors were made here, at AWA Microelectronics.
 
Swanny wrote:
Alan Rutlidge wrote:
"terryc" <newssevenspam-spam@woa.com.au> wrote in message
news:4a29ba5c$0$9150$c30e37c6@pit-reader.telstra.net...
On Sun, 31 May 2009 15:20:52 +0000, Geoff Steer wrote:

"AFTER a period of less than inspiring sales figures, retail chain Dick
I know that Dick hasn't been involved with these stores for 20 years or
so but it's still a bit sad.
Rubarb, the man was just a purveyor of cheap crap from overseas right
from the start.
What components are made in Australia?
True, quite a few decades ago some stuff (speakers, transformers etc) were
made here in Australia by Rola, Plessey, AR etc, but that was yonks back.
AFAIK semiconductors were probably never manufactured here, with most
components sourced for OS.


Semiconductors were made here, at AWA Microelectronics.
Capacitors also made here and probably resistors.
Click to expand...
We even made television sets.
 
On Jun 6, 6:57 pm, F Murtz <hagg...@hotmail.com> wrote:
Swanny wrote:
Alan Rutlidge wrote:
"terryc" <newssevenspam-s...@woa.com.au> wrote in message
news:4a29ba5c$0$9150$c30e37c6@pit-reader.telstra.net...
On Sun, 31 May 2009 15:20:52 +0000, Geoff Steer wrote:

"AFTER a period of less than inspiring sales figures, retail chain Dick
I know that Dick hasn't been involved with these stores for 20 years or
so but it's still a bit sad.
Rubarb, the man was just a purveyor of cheap crap from overseas right
from the start.
What components are made in Australia?
True, quite a few decades ago some stuff (speakers, transformers etc) were
made here in Australia by Rola, Plessey, AR etc, but that was yonks back.
AFAIK semiconductors were probably never manufactured here, with most
components sourced for OS.

Semiconductors were made here, at AWA Microelectronics.

Capacitors also made here and probably resistors.
We even made television sets.
Click to expand...
Relays, Transformers (ferguson), pots, dial lamps - pretty much
everything.
 
On Sat, 06 Jun 2009 10:49:31 +1000, Phil Allison wrote:

The CB radio craze ( Dick was part responsible for getting the law
changed ) was a major earner in the mid to late 70s and that put DSE on
the path to success.
Click to expand...
Wasn't that a case of bowing to the inevitable?
 
"Swanny"

Semiconductors were made here, at AWA Microelectronics.
Click to expand...

** A whole range of Silicon bipolar transistors were made in SA by Fairchild
in the early 70s - most were numbered AYxxxx but also some 2Nxxxx types.
There was a kit of them sold specially to make the Playmaster 136 amplifier.

Earlier even were the Anodeon ones ( numbered ATxxx ) mostly TO72 pack RF
and audio types.

Almost every kind of passive component for radio, TV and audio was made
ere - plus a huge range of TV and radio valves up to the late 1970s.


...... Phil
 
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