It's been 40 years this year since the attention of Whangarei shoppers was caught by the bold new storefront displays of a young upstart jeweller, Michael Hill.
Michael and wife Christine had a dream of democratising the sale of fine jewellery to everyone. It was after his Whangarei house burned down and he lost everything that he realised time waits for no man. One shop became two in Whangarei, and soon an empire was born. The company now operates 306 stores in New Zealand, Australia and Canada.
Despite a tough retail environment that has seen Michael Hill Jewellers’ share value drop nearly 50% in the last year, its founder is still confident that the company is on a journey to transform the business.
“We’re going through major changes,” the 80-year-old told the Otago Daily Times. “We’ve got a new CEO who’s absolutely brilliant, and I’m very confident that within 18 months or two years we will have a totally different business.”
However, that new CEO, Daniel Bracken, had to stand behind weakening financial results in its core Australia and New Zealand markets - which saw Michael Hill’s share price drop to 53c in mid-July, down 49.5% over the past 12 months.
Bracken also found the group needs to pay between $A10m to $A25m backpay to its staff, going back six years, after discovering aspects of some rosters and contracts were not compliant with industry law.
For the year to June 30, 2019 the jewellery chain reported total sales of $A563.4 million, down 4.5% from the previous year. Sales in New Zealand and Australia fell 4.3% and 8.6% to $NZ119.8m and $A313.1m respectively, while sales in Canada rose 1.5% to $C130m. The group’s online sales soared 43.6% to $A16m and comprises 2.8% of the total sales.
The Brisbane-based retailer restructured its business, quitting the US market and exiting its Emma & Roe sub-brand to focus on high-margin sales and make better use of other sales channels, such as online. Michael Hill opened 10 new stores while closing 11 under-performing ones.
These days he has handed the chair of the company over to his daughter Emma. Sir Michael, who lives in Arrowtown, instead spends time on his other passions – hosting the New Zealand golf open at his own course, and the Michael Hill International Violin Competition for budding young maestros in Queenstown and Auckland.
Sir Michael wanted to be a concert violinist when he left school but was told he had to start much younger in life to be a noteworthy musician. He instead first worked for his uncle, Arthur Fisher, at the family jewellery store.
Sir Michael also continues to develop The Hills as a sculpture park, as well as a fine golf course. Many of the sculptures there have been created by his son, sculptor Mark Hill.
2018: $280 million