Big Save director Lily Salter and Finance Now CEO Hadyn Halls on how the payment options and NOW Rewards Visa help everyday Kiwis get a new bed, lounge suite or fridge home sooner. Read the full story on nzherald.co.nz.
Category: Customer & Partner Success
More than furniture: 50 years of good value from Big Save
How a family-owned retailer and Finance Now help New Zealanders furnish their homes
Furnishing a home is one of the quiet pleasures of life in New Zealand. It happens in moments big and small: setting up a first flat, making room for a new baby, finally replacing the tired couch with one the whole family will pile onto for years. Each one turns a house a little more into a place you love coming back to.
These are also purchases worth getting right. For more than 50 years, Big Save has helped New Zealanders do exactly that. Family owned since 1973, it has grown from a single store to around 29 stores nationwide by keeping prices low and stock deep, which means people can furnish their homes well, without overpaying or waiting weeks for delivery.
Finance Now has been part of that story since the early days, giving Big Save customers a straightforward way to spread the cost of the things that make a house a home.
Still in the family
The business began with a single store in Paraparaumu, and the same family runs it today. Lily Salter has spent around 27 years in it and been the face of its advertising for the past two decades, and she describes a company built on common sense, one that takes real pleasure in helping people find the right thing at a price that works for them. Big Save, as she puts it, is “a 100% family owned and operated business” selling furniture, beds and whiteware to everyday New Zealanders.
That focus has held for decades, and Lily believes value is what people notice most.
“People are more value conscious now,” she says, “and that’s when our value really counts.” Years in the trade have taught the business how to help people get the most for their money.
Low prices, built to last
The low prices are not a temporary promotion. Big Save owns most of its stores, its warehouses and its delivery fleet, which keeps overheads down and the experience consistent from the showroom to the front door. The saving, Lily says, is real rather than advertised: “when we say you’re getting New Zealand’s best value, you are.”
Bringing the trucks in-house was as much about service as cost. Delivery is the last step in getting furniture into a home, and the part most likely to disappoint, and the company decided to own it rather than leave it to anyone else. Running its own fleet means Big Save can stand behind the whole journey.
The same long-term thinking shows up in the products. A few years ago Big Save invested in farming, and now runs its own New Zealand wool through its lounge suites and beds, part of an effort to make things that last and to give customers more say over what they sit on and sleep on.
Why Finance Now fits
By the time a customer reaches the counter, the price is settled. What remains is how to pay for it, and that is where Finance Now has come in for years, since the days when Lily was selling on the shop floor in Porirua. What makes the partnership work, she says, is the way it changes the conversation. Being able to talk in weekly terms, “this will cost you about $12 a week,” can turn a daunting purchase into a manageable one.
For a family replacing a fridge that has stopped working, or a couple setting up a first home, spreading the cost over manageable payments can be what makes a needed purchase possible.
Just as important to Lily is who is doing the lending. She is clear that Big Save deals only with reputable, responsible lenders. “We don’t deal with anyone who isn’t,” she says. Finance Now also suits the rhythm of the business, available on the Saturdays and Sundays that are Big Save’s busiest days, when many offices are shut, and willing to work around the offers the stores have coming up.
Today Finance Now gives Big Save customers two ways to pay: a fixed term, pay weekly plan or interest free options through NOW Rewards Visa.
Finance, the everyday way
For Lily, finance has become an ordinary part of how households manage money, a sensible way of working out how far an income can stretch. For younger buyers especially, she believes that matters all the more.
But for all the talk of finance, she keeps returning to something simpler. “In a market where everyone’s careful about where they spend,” she says, “the trust that comes with a long reputation really counts.” Five decades on, that reputation is still what brings people through the door.
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A Partnership Built on Trust: Brownie’s Mattress Direct
When you’ve been in business for over 80 years, you learn a thing or two about the importance of strong partnerships.
For Dean Brownie, third-generation owner of Brownie’s Mattress Direct, the relationship with Finance Now exemplifies what a true business partnership should look like.
Founded in September 1939 by Dean’s grandfather Frank Brownie, who started making bed wires for the Air Force and Army during World War II, Brownie’s has grown from humble beginnings in Christchurch to become a nationwide operation with seven branches across New Zealand.
Under Dean’s leadership since 1994, the company has maintained its commitment to local manufacturing while expanding its reach, now employing around 100 staff including 30 in manufacturing.
The connection with Finance Now was built on relationships that went back many years before the company’s founding. Dean had known Wayne Evans, Phil Ellison, and Don Bowden through years of working in the industry.
When Evans and Ellison launched Finance Now in 2000, the decision to partner with them was natural. “It’s very comforting to customers that Finance Now is owned by SBS,” Brownie explains. “That really gives Finance Now some very serious credibility.”
What sets Finance Now apart, according to Brownie, is their customer-focused lending approach. “Finance Now is very flexible on their terms and they tailor things to suit people’s individual financial requirements.”
The personal relationship with Don Bowden, whom Brownie has known since the 1980s, remains crucial. “If we’ve got a problem, we just call Don. He’s great.”
The partnership has weathered various economic cycles, including the Global Financial Crisis, COVID-19 pandemic, and current cost-of-living challenges. Through it all, the relationship has remained strong.
With Brownie’s now in its 87th year and Finance Now having recently celebrated 25 years, the partnership stands as a testament to the power of relationships in business – demonstrating how trust, understanding, and shared values can create lasting success.
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