Hill and Stewart

Hill and Stewart was a chain of appliance and electronics stores in the Auckland Region of New Zealand, which began in the 1950s and closed in January 2010.

Origins[]

The company was founded by St John Hill and John Stewart. Hill had a secondhand appliance shop in Wyndham Street, Auckland CBD in the early 1950s. They gained a franchise to sell Fisher and Paykel appliances, and opened their first shop in Queen Street in 1951.^[1]

The business was successful, and opened new stores in Karangahape Road, Takapuna and Newmarket over the next few years. In 1999, there were ten stores around Auckland.^[2]

Stewart's home phone number appeared on the chain's advertisements for many years, so that customers could contact him directly with any problems they had. Few people actually rang him, and those who did were unfailingly polite.

Decline[]

All but the Takapuna store were sold to owner-operators by the early 1980s, but still operated under the Hill and Stewart name. The Takapuna store was sold by Stewart in 1987.

Hill and Stewart was sentenced for breaching the Fair Trading Act twice in 1999,^[2] and once in 2007.^[3]

The chain was purchased by JB Hi-Fi in 2006, to operate alongside its own network of stores.^[4][5] There were 11 Hill and Stewart branded stores in 2007.^[3]

Six Hill and Stewart stores were still operating in 2009. One was rebranded as JB Hi-Fi, three were closed in the latter half of 2009, and the final two more were closed in early 2010.^[6] The Westfield St Lukes continued to operate until stock was sold out.^[1]

References[]