Australian businessman Dick Smith has blamed Kmart’s empty shelves and unhappy customers on the company manufacturing its products in China.
The highly popular chain department store has faced swarms of unhappy customers due to empty shelves, with Smith telling A Current Affair it’s no surprise.
Kmart has been under pressure from customers in the last month due to low stock and empty shelves, mostly to blame on the coronavirus pandemic.
Smith, owner of Dick Smith Electronics, had been a long-time advocate of buying Australian-made products, adding it was “sad” but not surprise Kmart manufactures many its products in China.
“When I was young, something like the bed lamp – we made all our lamps, the toaster – we made all our toasters in Australia,” he said.
“But the problem is our labour rates are high, we share the wealth here a lot better, so we have high minimum wages and high wages for factory workers and that means it‘s hard to compete with China where some of them are getting just a few dollars an hour.”
Meanwhile, National Secretary of the Australian Workers Union Daniel Walton told ACA he hoped the coronavirus crisis would lead Kmart and other retailers to rethink producing overseas.
“Maybe we should take a different approach, maybe we should use this crisis as an opportunity to say let‘s give some support back to our Australian manufacturers, let’s get them out here making some of the things that we need, and let’s get our aisles filled right across the country with decent Australian products,” he said.
However, many viewers who watched the ACA episode pointed out it’s not new news Kmart had made most of its products oversea.
A Current Affair bringing their hard-hitting journalism again:
CHEAP THINGS YOU BUY FROM KMART THAT SAY "MADE IN CHINA" ARE MADE IN… CHINA
— Stripe (@Stripeh) June 24, 2020
lmao the whole of this country doesn’t know most goods, not just kmart goods, are made in china. the very phones y’all use are made in china. let’s talk about how the public hate paying for any ethical “overpriced” goods and some unethical labor laws, let’s start there.
— ashley✨🍉🇵🇸 (@THATissooAshley) June 24, 2020
