The Star: October 24, 2019

Thursday October 24 2019 The Star
OUR PEOPLE 25
trading with the current trends
What is your best selling
product at the minute?
Well, you are talking in the
middle of a Rugby World Cup so
we can’t seem to keep televisions
in the store at the moment for
some strange reason, clearly, that
is very situational, but they would
be some of the hottest items that
we have at the moment.
What are some of the biggest
changes you have made at
Smiths City?
Customers preferences and
tastes do change over time and
we move with that, in fact, one
of the things I did back in 2015
when I came in here we used
to sell a lot of products that we
weren’t well known for that we
used to be well known for but
as time had moved forward we
actually took them out of the
range. One of these products was,
we used to sell a lot of firearms
and I cancelled that before the
unfortunate events of this year.
So we evolve our product sets
to meet the needs of what our
consumers are asking for.
Are there any types of
products that you would be
interested in looking at selling
in the future?
Clearly the connected home
is emerging, clearly, the more
wearable technologies that are
coming through, these are areas
that we are looking at as a natural
enhancement of what we do.
Where did you grow up?
I grew up in Island Bay in
Wellington but I would really
classify myself as New Zealander
rather than a Wellingtonian
or an Aucklander or even a
Cantabrian. I have lived and
worked across New Zealand for
many years now so I am quite
proud to call New Zealand home
and I am very proud to be back in
Christchurch for the third time,
it’s a great place to live.
What was the first job you got
out of school?
My first job was an
apprenticeship and I was
an apprentice as a fitter and
turner and that was with
William Cables in Wellington.
I completed my apprenticeship
when I did some further work
in that field I then decided that I
FITNESS: Roy
Campbell
during last
year’s Le Race.
Smiths City
in 1948 (top)
and some of
the electrical
products for
sale in 1983.
would like to retrain so I actually
went back to high school as an
adult student to do my university
entrance because I left at 15 to
do the apprenticeship, I duly
received that I was then accepted
into Mobil Oil from down here
I was actually working up in
Mt Hutt ski field and I applied
for a role in Mobil Oil and was
fortunately accepted into that.
Then I went back to university,
Auckland University and did a
marketing diploma and an MBA
and here I am I guess.
What did you get in trouble at
school for?
Being cheeky. I was a very
vocal child at school so I left
when I was 15. Generally just
being cheeky would probably be
the best answer.
How do you like to spend your
free time?
I do a reasonable amount
of cycling and gym, I have a
wonderful family I have a very
supportive and sensational
wife who is now a community
magistrate down here in
Christchurch and I have a 16
and a 14-year-old, so they keep
me busy and engaged. I love
motorbikes and I love being out
and about in the Christchurch
environment. I do road cycling,
I used to do a lot of running but
cycling is far better for the body.
I do it for fitness, I have done Le
Race three times now for my sins,
but looking at doing it again, was
an interesting experience.
Dead or alive, if there was
anyone you could have a beer
with, who would it be?
The standard answer for me
would be Winston Churchill. I
would probably like to talk to
Einstein or Michelangelo as well,
great minds.