Nido’s business collapse is a double hit for the South Auckland family

A family from South Auckland got their money back after this year’s border closure torpedoed a planned holiday in Thailand, but they may now have lost half again after the collapse of furniture giant Nido.

The Ōtāhuhu family (mom, dad and four children who asked not to be identified) paid a deposit of $ 2,470 to Nido two months ago for a two- and three-seater sofa, and the remaining $ 2470 would be paid when the sofa would be delivered in 16 weeks.

He is one of several Nido customers who have contacted the Herald with alarm that they may not get their sofa or money back after the company that owns the store, Magsons Hardware Ltd, was placed on hold. today.

Recipient Conor McElhinney of McGrathNicol said recipients were still evaluating the amount of deposits paid for goods that had not yet been delivered.

For the South Auckland family, it’s a second setback in a year after they were hit by the border closure as the country entered the Covid-19 shutdown in March.

“We had flights reserved for Thailand,” said the father.

“We got a refund from Singapore Airlines, no problem. That was brilliant.

“The money went there [the couch] instead.

“We wanted a different color, we paid a little more for it,” he said.

But he was concerned when the construction company that built Nido’s massive 2.7ha Henderson store, Vijay Holdings, went into liquidation last month.

“I thought, ‘Oh no!’ My partner is pretty devastated, “he said.

“I called them when I heard that the construction company was bankrupt and I thought, fuck this color change, we will try to get something with any color. They said there was no more stock, they were looking in January.”

Another customer said that she and her partner also paid half the price of a sofa ($ 1,300) as a deposit, and that the sofa was due to arrive in January.

“We are in the process of buying our first home and excitedly, probably stupidly, we found a sofa in Nido that we tidied up,” he said.

“I called them and they said they can’t release stocks and they can’t make changes to orders until they get a ‘revised policy’ from recipients.

“Quite stressful when you’re trying to buy your first home and you could have lost $ 1,300, and we still have another $ 1,300 left!”

Nido’s collapse has also affected small investors who funded a $ 62 million financing deal to build and open the store. Two Taranaki farmers in the late 1970s and mid-1980s invested about $ 1 million each in the project.

One grandfather told the Herald: “We are parents with children and grandchildren [and] we invest our savings in good faith. It’s hard to believe that stocks bought just this year will be hit so quickly. “

The company that appointed McGrathNicol as trustee, Central Assets Investment, is owned by more than 30 investors in Whangārei, Auckland, Edgecumbe, Whakatāne, Te Kūiti, Taupō, Taranaki, Picton, Blenheim, Canterbury and Invercargill.

McElhinney said Nido was providing information to recipients about customers expecting undelivered orders.

“We will contact them, but if customers have not been contacted by the end of next week, they can reach us directly,” he said.

The email to do so is [email protected].

He said the furniture store would continue to trade and “probably start some discount drives” to sell off stocks so it can repay creditors. All 100 employees are still working.

Customers who have ordered products may still be able to get them when they arrive from suppliers.

But the cash would be used to repay senior creditors first, then Internal Revenue, then secured creditors, including Central Assets Investment, and finally unsecured creditors, including clients.