{"id":95186,"date":"2025-10-22T22:24:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-22T22:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/95186\/"},"modified":"2025-10-22T22:24:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-22T22:24:07","slug":"torpedo7-owner-on-why-it-decided-to-move-the-retail-brand-back-to-online-only","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/95186\/","title":{"rendered":"Torpedo7 owner on why it decided to move the retail brand back to online-only"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tahua Group\u2019s retail division chief executive Lesley Francis-Ziogas said that like many retailers, Torpedo7 has faced ongoing pressure from the wider economic environment and a shift in consumer behaviour as a result of cost-of-living pressures.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the brand has a loyal customer base and strong product offer, the physical retail model has not been delivering at a sustainable level \u2013 prompting us to reassess how we best serve our customers and allocate resources across the group,\u201d Francis-Ziogas said.<\/p>\n

She confirmed the performance required the move to a less resource-intense business model, and said the shift reflected a broader commercial strategy to simplify operations, reduce fixed-cost exposure and focus investment where it delivers customer value and return.<\/p>\n

Francis-Ziogas said the move to digital-only will allow Tahua Group to protect the brand, preserve margin and respond more nimbly to changing consumer behaviour.<\/p>\n

Torpedo7\u2019s digital platform is set to benefit from some additional investment as a result, with Francis-Ziogas expecting improvements to be made to its performance, user experience and fulfilment capability, with an expectation of improved delivery speeds.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Outlet includes the Whang\u0101rei store, seen here. Photo \/ NZME<\/p>\n

The Outlet on the up<\/p>\n

While Torpedo7\u2019s move to online-only means a closure of its physical locations, the remaining six stores are set to become The Outlet, Tahua Group\u2019s off-price, value retail concept.<\/p>\n

Francis-Ziogas said the business has had a strong start since its official launch back in June<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve seen high customer uptake, strong sales traction and encouraging early performance across all locations. It\u2019s clearly resonating with New Zealand shoppers looking for smarter, value-driven choices.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said the reaction from customers had been overwhelmingly positive and thanked the business\u2019 team for a fantastic job curating a \u201cconstantly evolving range\u201d, something she credits as helping drive repeat visits and momentum.<\/p>\n

Francis-Ziogas wouldn\u2019t disclose how much Tahua Group would be investing to transition the stores, nor how well they were performing financially, but said the group was being targeted and cost conscious in its approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy repurposing existing store infrastructure and leveraging operational efficiencies, we\u2019re able to expand The Outlet quickly and sustainably.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once the transition is complete in February 2026, The Outlet will have 17 locations across the country.<\/p>\n

Tom Raynel is a multimedia business journalist for the Herald, covering small business, retail and tourism.<\/p>\n

Listen and subscribe to the Today in Business<\/a> podcast \u2013 the top headlines from the NZ Herald business team summarised and delivered by an artificial intelligence (AI) voice as an easily digestible recap.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tahua Group\u2019s retail division chief executive Lesley Francis-Ziogas said that like many retailers, Torpedo7 has faced ongoing pressure…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95187,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1863,4057,4463,138,3088,48901,14134,181,10668,25282,19724,702,130,2683,111,139,69,90,1642,53191,2738,15141,39157,644,3168,28742,199,223,61,68330,70463,4276,102],"class_list":["post-95186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-back","tag-behind","tag-brand","tag-business","tag-commercial","tag-decided","tag-decision","tag-details","tag-economic","tag-fully","tag-given","tag-it","tag-more","tag-move","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-online","tag-onlineonly","tag-owner","tag-pressures","tag-reasons","tag-retail","tag-shared","tag-strategies","tag-take","tag-the","tag-to","tag-torpedo7","tag-torpedo7s","tag-why","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}