Australian Bankruptcies

[mullokintyre]

Another Australian Icon, Godfreys Vaccum cleaners has gone into bankruptcy.
From Evil Murdoch Press

Godfreys Group, the iconic retailer of vacuums that has been selling cleaners for almost 100 years, has collapsed into administration, with cost of living pressures and the challenging economic environment sucking out its profitability and causing its demise.
The business had been owned by the Johnston family with former patriarch John Johnston a co-founder of the business and still active within the company at 100 years of age.
He died in 2018, just five months after he led a takeover of the business which included it being briefly listed on the stock exchange.

“Sadly, like many retailers, we have been heavily impacted by consumer confidence and spending due to the economic era of high inflation, rising interest rates, and intense cost of living pressures,” Mr Johnston’s daughter Jane Allen said on Tuesday.

“We are also still suffering from the unprecedented business disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic,” she added.

The collapse of Godfreys has placed in doubt the future of its 141 stores across Australia and New Zealand and its 600 staff, with the voluntary administrators appointed to the failed retailer deciding that around 54 stores will close within the next two weeks with the loss of 193 staff of which 171 are in Australia.

Mick

 

[Value Collector]

Another Australian Icon, Godfreys Vaccum cleaners has gone into bankruptcy.
From Evil Murdoch Press

Mick

They should have sold Dyson Products.

 

[Value Hunter]

Surprised it didn't go bankrupt sooner. Whenever I had walked past one it always seemed empty. They sold a lot of older style of vacuum cleaners which most people don't want these days.

Their store presentation, layouts, marketing, etc everything was very dated. It was a legacy brand that did not adapt well and slowly sank over the years.

 

[farmerge]

Surprised it didn't go bankrupt sooner. Whenever I had walked past one it always seemed empty. They sold a lot of older style of vacuum cleaners which most people don't want these days.

Their store presentation, layouts, marketing, etc everything was very dated. It was a legacy brand that did not adapt well and slowly sank over the years.

She who is never wrong ventured into the Midland store of Godfrey's branch some time ago.
Quite unhappy with the lack of service and the I don't give a stuff attitude of the "staff".
Spent the money on a vacuum cleaner at Uncle Jerry's and never to darken their doorstep again, and now certainly won't be.

 

[Smurf1976]

Surprised it didn't go bankrupt sooner. Whenever I had walked past one it always seemed empty. They sold a lot of older style of vacuum cleaners which most people don't want these days.

Their store presentation, layouts, marketing, etc everything was very dated. It was a legacy brand that did not adapt well and slowly sank over the years.

I didn't even think of them when I needed a new vacuum 3 months ago. I don't mean I rejected them, I mean it just didn't even occur to me to go there.

Bought a perfectly reasonable one for $149 at Target.

 

[Smurf1976]

They should have sold Dyson Products.

Did they not?

I've have thought that was a must for a specialist vacuum cleaner shop?

 

[Value Collector]

Did they not?

I've have thought that was a must for a specialist vacuum cleaner shop?

Nope, No Dyson Products at all.

My Wife sent me out to purchase I specific Dyson that she had seen on TikTok, I walked into Godfrey’s and asked for it by model number, and was told that Dysons are over priced and not worth it so they don’t stock them.

They offered me a cheap Dyson Knock off brand, but Knowing That Mrs VC would not be happy unless I return with the exact Dyson she requested I went to JB-HI FI and picked it up. Mrs VC was happy and Godfrey’s lost a sale.

Its a bit like a phone store says they don’t stock the IPhone in my opinion, sure by all means stock the cheaper brands, but you have to stock the market leader too.

 

[divs4ever]

Surprised it didn't go bankrupt sooner. Whenever I had walked past one it always seemed empty. They sold a lot of older style of vacuum cleaners which most people don't want these days.

Their store presentation, layouts, marketing, etc everything was very dated. It was a legacy brand that did not adapt well and slowly sank over the years.

yes but if you had a commercial cleaning business they were the place for heavy duty gear for the vacuum cleaners

 

[Smurf1976]

I walked into Godfrey’s and asked for it by model number, and was told that Dysons are over priced and not worth it so they don’t stock them.

Business 101 - sell the customer what they want to buy.

By all means give them advice and recommendations but if you're a painter, and the customer wants the ceilings painted neon green, well paint them neon green then. If you won't another painter will.

To not sell a market leading product is just silly.

 

[qldfrog]

Business 101 - sell the customer what they want to buy.

By all means give them advice and recommendations but if you're a painter, and the customer wants the ceilings painted neon green, well paint them neon green then. If you won't another painter will.

To not sell a market leading product is just silly.

And let's be honest, as mentioned before, that kind of shop should have closed 20y ago.
I visited them 30 y ago or so, and never entered their shop or seen web site..if they had one ..since...
A bit like an rsl club, immersed in the older psyche of the country..a part of Australia, but dying and now dead .
The Vauxhall/Holden of the vacuum cleaners.
Sad but probably not much to do with state of the economy

 

[Value Hunter]

In an artcile about Godfreys it caught my eye some of the other companies that recently went into administration:

"Godfreys’ collapse comes after other businesses have recently slid into voluntary administration, including cake maker Sara Lee and cleaning products company Hiro Brands, which manufactures Organic Choice, Trix, Orange Power and Aware Sensitive".

‘Death by a thousand cuts’: Vacuum cleaner retailer Godfreys collapses after 93 years

The retailer, which sold vacuum cleaners and other cleaning devices, has joined a string of other retailers to appoint voluntary administrators in the post-COVID cost-of-living crisis.

www.smh.com.au

Sarah Lee is another one of those legacy brands that lost relevance. I cannot remember the last time I ate a Sarah lee cake.

 

[divs4ever]

Halo Food Co. Limited (Liquidators Appointed) (Receivers and Managers Appointed)

ASX code: HLF ACN 621 970 652 (‘the Company’) Appointment of Liquidators ASX code: HLF

Notice is hereby given that Michael Korda and Robert Hutson of KordaMentha were appointed Liquidators of the Company and the companies in the attached schedule (together ‘the Companies’) on 30 January 2024. Pursuant to Section 436A of the Corporations Act (‘the Act’) at the Second Meetings of Creditors of the Companies held on 30 January 2024, the creditors of the Companies resolved that the Companies be wound up under Section 439C(c) of the Act and that Michael Korda and Robert Hutson be appointed Liquidators.
As per our previous announcement David Hardy, Ryan Eagle and Emily Seeckts of KPMG were appointed as Receivers and Managers of the Companies on Friday, 25 August 2023.
The Receivers and Managers continue to have day to day control of the assets and trading operations of the Companies.
We confirm that the Liquidators have put in place arrangements to respond, free of charge, to members’ and creditors’ queries in relation to the consequences and progress of the external administration.

The contact details of the Liquidators are: KordaMentha Rialto South Tower Level 31, 525 Collins Street Melbourne VIC 3000

i did not hold this share

i was mildly interested in it early on , but it didn't pass my litmus test

another bullet dodged

 

[Value Collector]

In an artcile about Godfreys it caught my eye some of the other companies that recently went into administration:

"Godfreys’ collapse comes after other businesses have recently slid into voluntary administration, including cake maker Sara Lee and cleaning products company Hiro Brands, which manufactures Organic Choice, Trix, Orange Power and Aware Sensitive".

‘Death by a thousand cuts’: Vacuum cleaner retailer Godfreys collapses after 93 years

The retailer, which sold vacuum cleaners and other cleaning devices, has joined a string of other retailers to appoint voluntary administrators in the post-COVID cost-of-living crisis.

www.smh.com.au

Sarah Lee is another one of those legacy brands that lost relevance. I cannot remember the last time I ate a Sarah lee cake.

Sara Lee will survive, it’s been purchased by an Australian company and its operations are continuing.

Its had a number of owners over the years, its last owner was a private equity firm I suspect loaded it up with debt and lead to this bankruptcy.

but it was owned by the American Sara Lee corporation for 40 years, before being sold to the Canadian company Mc Cain’s, who then sold it to a New Zealand private equity firm a few years later, now it’s in Australian Hands.

 

[mullokintyre]

St Hilleiers Building group has gone into administration. joining a line of building companies gone bust over the past couple of years since Covid.
Mick

 

[Value Collector]

St Hilleiers Building group has gone into administration. joining a line of building companies gone bust over the past couple of years since Covid.
Mick

View attachment 170216

 

[divs4ever]

View attachment 170236

yes but there has been a lot of 'winner picking ' since 2020 and that warps the ' free-market' system

and we seem to end up with neither ( a healthy economy , or functional capitalism )

 

[qldfrog]

Young couple call time on gourmet mushroom business amid tough economy, failing infrastructure

The business a young couple crowdfunded to grow a head-turning array of tasty, colourful fungi closes as failing machinery and crop losses due to constant rain prove too much to overcome.

www.abc.net.au

The 2 local oyster mushroom producers we used closed.
For mushrooms, you need power for cold rooms ..electricity went up the roof , a substrate..often cereal based or wood..and the final product is quite dear so not for struggling families ..
Anyway agriculture like that has to close and the next man made scam is expected to be water restriction,based on wef walking orders.
Indeed, making money on cattle in Australia is a struggle

 

[mullokintyre]

Young couple call time on gourmet mushroom business amid tough economy, failing infrastructure

The business a young couple crowdfunded to grow a head-turning array of tasty, colourful fungi closes as failing machinery and crop losses due to constant rain prove too much to overcome.

www.abc.net.au

The 2 local oyster mushroom producers we used closed.
For mushrooms, you need power for cold rooms ..electricity went up the roof , a substrate..often cereal based or wood..and the final product is quite dear so not for struggling families ..
Anyway agriculture like that has to close and the next man made scam is expected to be water restriction,based on wef walking orders.
Indeed, making money on cattle in Australia is a struggle

So many of these things are driven by tax and other incentives.
I remember when WA Marron in tank farms were going to be the next big thing, then Ostriches, Timber plantation MIS schemes, then farmed Emus, farmed venison, sandalwood, the Weekly Times for a couple of years had experts spruiking for super fast growing Paulowinia trees as the answer to all our prayers.
And there is many more.
And there will be more to come.
Mick

 

[qldfrog]

So many of these things are driven by tax and other incentives.
I remember when WA Marron in tank farms were going to be the next big thing, then Ostriches, Timber plantation MIS schemes, then farmed Emus, farmed venison, sandalwood, the Weekly Times for a couple of years had experts spruiking for super fast growing Paulowinia trees as the answer to all our prayers.
And there is many more.
And there will be more to come.
Mick

These were not tax schemes:
one man or one couple businesses trying to live in accordance with the new green/teal speak, and discovering why industrial UK and now China has not been surpassed by Vanuatu or Bhutan subsistence economies.
I feel for them

 

[TimeISmoney]

Young couple call time on gourmet mushroom business amid tough economy, failing infrastructure

The business a young couple crowdfunded to grow a head-turning array of tasty, colourful fungi closes as failing machinery and crop losses due to constant rain prove too much to overcome.

www.abc.net.au

The 2 local oyster mushroom producers we used closed.
For mushrooms, you need power for cold rooms ..electricity went up the roof , a substrate..often cereal based or wood..and the final product is quite dear so not for struggling families ..
Anyway agriculture like that has to close and the next man made scam is expected to be water restriction,based on wef walking orders.
Indeed, making money on cattle in Australia is a struggle

Every time I hear about Qld businesses closing up due to energy prices makes me quite sad knowing we have almost endless amounts of LNG in Central Qld. The whole thing is a rort, it's OK for CEOs and public servants to jump on a plane and fly around the world but it's not ok to burn gas for electricity.