Who's Gone Bust in Retailing 2010-11

The presence of any business in this historical listing must not be taken to imply that it no longer exists, its name is not used or that such business, if still trading, is impaired in anyway.

• Alexon, the fashion chain, went into pre-pack administration at the end of September. The group owns 990 outlets trading as Ann Harvey, Kaliko, Dash and Eastex employing 2,700 staff. Sun European bought the company out of administration saving the group, but at the costof shareholders (loss £4 mn), suppliers and HMRC (lost £12 mn).
• Walmsley, the 60-store furniture retailer, went into administration in September 2011, following in the heels of Habitat, Lombok, and Floors-2-Go. Sales in 2010 were £26 million. 38-ish stores have already been closed (mainly in North and Wales) and the remaining 25 have been bought by equity group SKG. Walmsley was established in 1933.
• Floors-2-Go, the floorcovering firm established in 1999, collapsed for the second time (the first time was 2008) in late August. 53 of 88 stores were closed with the los of 200 job, and the remainder were sold to a new company set up by two of the former directors. Before 2008 the company had 132 stores.
• Lombok, the furniture chain, went into administration in August for the second time in two years. Nine of its stores closed immediately, leaving three remaining outlets and a concession in the HoF. In a pre-pack deal the existing owner, Angora, has purchased the assets from the administrator.
• Ireland: Superquinn, the upmarket grocery chain with €500 mn annual sales around Dublin went into receiverships in mid-July, but was bought by Musgrave the next day. Known as a very innovative retailer in its day, its combination of service, range, prepared food and prices was hard to maintain in the current Irish trading climate. The deal makes Musgrave the largest supermarket group in Ireland.
• TJ Hughes, the off-price general-store retailer, appointed an administrator on the last business day of June. There are 57 stores and 4,000 employees.
• Jane Norman,the fashion chain with 90 outlets, went into administration at the end of June. 1,600 jobs are at risk. It had £140 mn of debts and was badly affected by the economic slowdown, a rotten Christmas, and the fact that clothing sales were sharply down in the first two quarters of 2011.
• Habitat, the symbol of the swinging 60s (the chicken brick and cous-cous equipment being particular favourites [No, I never bought them: think I'm made of money?]) is to be sold by Hilco as a UK brand to Homebase, most of the stores being closed. Of the 33 remaining stores, it is expected that three will remain. There are 900 staff. However Habitat will continue as a store-within-a-store in Homebase. The international arm, which has a good reputation abroad (think France) is to be sold to another company.
• Homeform, the kitchens and bathrooms business with 2010 sales of £152 mn, has filed notice to appoint administrators. The bathroom retailers, Moben and Dolphin, are to be sold as free-standing concerns. The future of Sharps and Kitchens Direct expect to be saved as part of a deal to continue the business.
• McCormick's Music Shop in Glasgow, iconic record shop - appearances from Rolling Stones and The Eagles - has been trading poorly for 3 years and gone into administration. It is thought it can be saved as a going concern.
• Life & Style, the 91-store fashion lifestyle chain formed from the ruins of Ethel Austin, went into administration in June 2011. It had gone bust in 2010 and had been bought from the administrator by Elaine MacPherson (former CEO of Ethel Austin).
• Haldanes, the grocery retailer with 26 stores, went into administration in June. It trades as UGO and Haldanes Express. There are 600 staff. It bought several ex-Somerfield stores from the Co-op and has been complaining bitterly about their trading performance. One of the last acts of the Board was to issue a Notice of Claim against the Co-operative Group.
• Canada: Blockbuster has been put into receivership by a court to sort out whether there are sufficient funds to repay money owed to film studios and other suppliers.
• Bruce Millars, independent music shop in Aberdeen, is up for sale to avoid admin. It is the biggest supplier of musical instruments and has a wide range of TV and audio. In the 60s and 70s it was probably the biggest such store in the North East (of Scotland),
• Shopping Centre problems. The British Council of Shopping Centres estimates that one-fifth of UK shopping malls is in financial difficulties. Companies with combined assets of £10 bn are in breach of their covenants and may default. Around 20 secondary shopping centres are already on the market. Many assets were purchased at the top of the market. Selling them now will further depress prices. But banks like Lloyds and keen to get the no-hopers off their balance sheets.
• Focus DIY chain, with 3,919 employees and 170 stores, applied for administration in May 2011. It is a large-ish operation but lacked authority in a weak DIY market that has been hammered by low property sales since 2007/8. It was merged with the Do-It-All chain in the 1980s (trading as Focus Do-It-All) and was owned by Boots in the days when every self-respecting retailer had a DIY chain, including W H Smith, Sainsbury’s and Boots.
• ETS, a chain of 6 electrical household appliances stores, based in Bodmin has gone into administration (poor trading for several years). It has 57 employees.
• HiHo Jewellers, the handmade jewellery company in the SW with 14 stores and an online business, went into administration in April. There were 55 employees and sales of £3.5 mn. It is believed that the stores have closed and the management has bought the online business from the administrator.
• BeCheeky, the UK online lingerie etailer, ceased trading in March and is likely to go into liquidation quite soon. It was set up in 2005. Turnover was £1 mn pa, but it never made a profit. Its name and site has been purchased by LoveHoney.com
• U.S.A. American Apparel, the American youthful street fashion retailer aimed at young people aged 8 to 80 (and run by charmers), has declared it is destined for Chapter 13, which under the US Bankruptcy codes provides protection from creditors whilst it reorganises in an attempt to pay off its creditors – or at least make them an offer.
• Oddbins, see below, has now gone into administration with all 400 jobs at risk. The HMRC refused to accept its proposals so there was no legal alternative except administration. Some stores may survive either as stand-alone outlets or elements in other chains.
• Alworths, the successor to Woolworths, went into administration at the end of March. Its 17 stores with 235 staff are still trading. It was hoping to restructure but obviously either its trading was very dire or the poor outlook frightened (or both) so it has taken the administration route.
• Easy Living Furniture, Sofas UK retail trading name, went into administration at the end of March. It has 20 outlets in the South of England employing 150 people and an online site.
• The Officers Club, discount fashion chain, has gone into administration again, but half its stores have already been sold to young fashion retailer, Blue Inc. Officers Club employs 900 people in 102 stores, 46 of which (400 staff) have now gone to Blue Inc.
• Henleys, a young fashion brand, put its retail arm into administration in March, closing 18 stores and dismissing 200 employees. Reasons: poor trading, lease problems.
• Dekko, a NI-based furniture retailer (2 stores), has announced it will wind down its business over the next few months and close. Reason: poor trading conditions.
• Autoquake, one of the largest online retailers of used cars, went into administration in March. It was founded in 2005 and bought used cars at auction and resold them online. The website was successful, but it is hard market (you don't sell your car unless there is something wrong with it).
• Shakeaway Milk Bars, the Bournemouth-based retailer with 55 owned and franchised milk bars in the UK, Cyprus, Australia and Abu Dhabi has gone into administration. One half the stores have been bought by a new company, running 15 owned bars and 25 franchised.
• Arrogant Cat, the celebrity fashion chain with three stores, went into administration in March. Customers included Mischa Barton, Lindsay Lohan, Amy Winehouse, Peaches Geldof and Katie Price. No redundancies are planned and Arrogant Cat is expected to find a buyer. Its wholesale operations, the HK flagship store, and franchises in Denmark, Dubai and Kuwait are not included in the administration.
• Triumph Furniture Company, Merthyr Tydfil, with a London showroom and facilities in Solihull and The Netherlands (sales £23 million) has been put up for sale by the administrators.
• Oddbins, the major wine and beer chain, is to close one-third of its stores, dismiss 15 out of 60 HQ staff, and require landlords of the remaining 89 stores to accept lower rents as part of a CVA in March.
• Ireland: Birthdays, the Clinton-Card owned Irish operation with 14 stores has been put into administration by its owner. This does not affect the UK Birthdays chain.
• Bennets, the Norwich-based electricals retailer with 14 branches and 300 employees, went into administration in March. It operated from some impressive stores, but difficult market conditions since the recession and competition from eRetailers had made a harsh trading environment for at least 3 years. The immediate causes were: the withdrawal of credit insurance in November had meant that suppliers would not deliver and the snowy Christmas created further damage.
• Fenchurch, the fashion chain with four stores and department store concessions, went into administration in March. Its assets were purchased by JD Sports Fashion, but all its staff have been sacked and the Covent Garden Store has already closed. The staff first learnt of their employer's failure when they read an advert selling the company in the Financial Times.
• Ollie and Nic, the vintage-inspired handbag and accessories chain with 11 stores, went into administration in February. It has been bought out of administration by the original founders and a group of other investors previously associated with Principles, Rubicon and Monsoon.
• Auto Windscreens, the UK's second-largest windscreen replacement company, ran out of cash in Feb 2011 and ceased trading. The Chesterfield-based (Derbys) business has 1,200 employees, 68 fitting centres, 550 mobile units, a call centre and distribution depot in Witton. The administrators have failed to sell it.
• Cattles, the private company lending mainly to the poor at high interest rates, avoided administration in Feb 2011 after reaching agreement with its creditors. It will continue to run down its loan book to repay the banks much to the chagrin of its other creditors and bondholders who will receive little. A long-running accounting error led to the downfall of this firm.
• JJB Sports, the Sportswear/fashion retailer with 250 stores and 6,300 employees, is attempting a second CVA (company voluntary arrangement), involving: renegotiating leases with landlords; the closure of 45 problem stores to be followed by closing a second tranche of 50 stores (depending on the willingness of landlords to reduce rents and how these stores trade); and raising £31.5 mn from shareholders. JJB Sports have raised the money from shareholders, but now need some more. Less than one-half of landlords have agreed the CVA and there is some dispute about whether JJB's approach is valid.
• USA. Borders, the US bookstore chain (whose UK subsidiary closed down in 2009), has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. It has 674 retail stores, employing 19,500 people, and will close 200 outlets in the next few weeks. Borders has been unable to agree refinancing terms with its banks for debts of $1.29 bn (£627 mn) and assets of $1.28 bn assets.
• Ireland. Retail Excellence Ireland (REI) reported that 400 stores closed in Ireland during Jan 2011, following a terrible Christmas, poor Jan, upward-only rent reviews and the most savage budget in the history of the state.
• Greece. Poor Trading has meant that Aldi Sued is closing its 38 Aldi Hellas hard-discount stores by the end of February, losing 500 jobs.
• Netherlands. Impact Retail, the consumer electrical/IT specialist operator with 118 stores, has filed for bankruptcy under Dutch law, closing both its stores temporarily and its ecommerce site.
• US. A&P (once 'Atlantic and Pacific') has requested Chapter 11 protection from its creditors. The group, owned by Tengelmann, has 395 outlets suffering from lower-priced competitors and heavy debts. Normally Chapter 11 allows a company to reorganise so it continues to survive.
• HPJ Jewellers, a discount jewellery firm with 70 (or perhaps 40) stores, has filed notice to appoint administrators. Originally established in 1980 as Half Price Jewellers with limited service, it has been hit by poor Christmas sales, careful consumer spending and online sellers. Bought by restructuring specialists Gordon Bros in Dec 2010, it expects to reduce its rents and close one-half of stores via administration. It also had a period in administration in 2006.
• British Bookshops and Stationers, a 51-store 'discount' stationery/books chain with 300 employees in the South was the first major retail casualty of the 2011, going into receivership in Jan 2011. Immediate causes were poor Christmas trading, but the longer-term impact of the recession and effect of internet sales on books and office supplies will be the key issues they faced. W H Smith bought 22 BBS stores for £1 mn in February.
• Cruise, the Edinburgh-based fashion chain with 300 employees, went into administration at the very end of December, but was bought along with 10 stores by Tom Hunter (to be run in conjunction with Van Mildert, a NE England fashion retailer with five shops that is run from a converted jail. Tom Hunter sold his Office chain a month earlier so had a bit of spare cash. Two stores were closed by Deloittes, the administrator. And Van Mildert looks pretty good.
• Balls Brothers, the upmarket watering hole chain in the City, went into Administration in November. Problems with a Barclays loan to buy a competitor was the key issue, with the recession and changes in drinking and eating patterns amongst City drinkers changing patterns of demand. There are 19 restaurants and bars.
• Suits You, the 66-store formal menswear company (Speciality Retail Group), was put into administration by new owners G A Europe in late October. SRG had gone through a company voluntary arrangement earlier in 2010 but with the sales outlook remaining bleak it was sold to G A Europe.
• Stokes, the UK's largest greengrocery trader (37 stores), entered voluntary administration in October. 10 stores were immediately closed. There are 277 employees. The rationale for VA was poor sales.
• Confetti, the weddings businesses, went into administration a few days after being sold. Its 5 stores have been closed and one-half of its 94 staff has been dismissed. The online Confetti site has an 'Up for Sale' notice.
• Mad O'Rouke's Pie Factory, a black-country themed restaurant chain once named 'Restaurant of the Year' in Tipton, West Midlands, went into administration in July, having handed over its Lower Gornall and Wordsley operations to M&B.
• Thoughts, a greetings card retailer with nine stores in high-profile locations (eg Bull Ring, Westfield and St David's) got in difficulties when its banking facilities were withdrawn and was bought out of administration by the previous owners as Thought Card Retail.
• Vergo Retailing, a 20-store department and jewellery store chain with 940 employees, closed many of its operations in 2010. The chain was originally set up in 2007 to run the Lewis's, Robbs and Joplings department stores (sold by Owen Owen). In 2009 it bought Coop department stores in Devon and Cornwall (eg Derry's in Plymouth), East of England Coop Homemaker stores in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex (350 staff) and a jewellery store. Most of these have been closed or are apparently closing, although it is possible that some will survive. Administrators were appointed in May.
• Fashionair, the up-market fashion website established as 'an entertainment and shopping platform' was forced to cease trading in May and the staff have been made redundant. Fashionair was founded on the initiative of Simon Fuller (ex-manager of the Spice Girls) but US-based owners CKx decided to close it down after a review. The Clothes Whisperer felt that all Fashionair's news about what fashionistas actually do was pretty offputting to young wenches whose nearest Jimmy Choos is simply miles away.
• Laser Electrical, a 10-store chain of hi-fi/audio retailers in Northern Ireland, went into administration and the stores were closed when no buyer was forthcoming. This cost 140 jobs.
• Labsport, the branded sportswear chain, fell into admin in April and closed its 8 stores. 80 staff have gone. One innovative feature of LabSport was co-development of brands; every supplier was allocated a section of the store and could merchandise it as they wished.
• Faith Shoes, 1800 jobs, 78 stores and 120 concessions, went into administrations in April after desperately seeking a buyout. Hilco has taken control of the company's £14M debts.
• Envy! , This fashionwear chain with 23 stores and 20 department store concessions went into administration in April three weeks after being sold. It is likely to continue in a reduced format.
• Not Only Shops! , In February and March 2010 we have seen the administration of Jarvis Engineering, Highlands Airways, Crystal Palace Football Club, Premier League Portsmouth Football Club, exclusive London restaurant Cipriani, Readers Digest (UK), Snowsport GB (UK governing body) and Landsdowne, the UK's largest driving school (trading as RED).
• Speciality Retail Group, owner of Suits You and Racing Green, made a company voluntary arrangement (CVA) with creditors (including landlords) that will initially save 300 jobs but result in closing 42 out of the current 73 stores over the next 18 months. The stores to close will mainly be High Street. A CVA arrows a struggling retailer to get out of rental agreements they can no longer afford - as an alternative to closure. SRG's landlords have agreed a 40% rent reduction in the marginal sites.
• Ethel Austin, value clothing retailer with 300 stores, and Au Naturelle have appointed administrators. Both companies have found it hard to pay suppliers since before Christmas. It went bust previously in 2008. It is expected that the administrators will close one-half the group's 270 stores affecting around 40% of the 3,100 retail staff; by Feb, there had been 470 redundancies at the now-closed warehouse and headquarters, and 1000 retail staff have lost their jobs as 114 stores have closed. The Austin family sold it in 2002. The company was originally founded in Liverpool by Mrs Austin in her living room.
• Adili, the ethical fashion e-tailer (slogan, 'we're committed to ethical, we're committed to cool') trading as Ascension Online, suspended its shares in early February because it had failed to secure future financing. Adili ran into cash problems at the end of 2009; it had revenues of £299,000 with costs of £886,000 at about this time. The business has now been bought by Luke Heron for £1 has been renamed ASCENSION and will stress higher price point items. Heron also owns Green Baby, the ethical e-nursery provider.
• Diamonds and Pearls, the jewellery company, went into pre-pack administration in February for the second time in 12 months. A consortium of suppliers, Renaissance Jewellery, bought it out of admin after a few hours, but 100 people have been made redundant. There are now 50 stores and 200 jobs; 30 stores of the predecessor company were closed.
• Adams, the children's clothing store, has fallen into administration for the third time in two years. John Shannon first bought it from the administrators in 2007, rescued it from a second failure in Feb 2009, sold it to Habib Alvi in September 2009, then appointed administrators again in January 2010. There are 125 store and more than 2000 staff.
• D2, the 79-store fashion chain once owned by Tom Hunter, went into administration at the end of December. It has closed 2 of its 3 Irish stores, but the 77 remaining UK stores continue to trade. 22 staff at the HQ in Scotland have been made redundant.
• Head, the entertainment chain set up by Simon Douglas after the collapse of Zavvi, closed down in December 2009. Several ex-Virgin/Zavvi stores were bought from the administrator, but Liverpool and Sheffield have closed, Leeds and Dundee are closing, and Bristol and Brum are about to.
• Virgin Cosmetics [renamed Effective Costmetics] , closed in Jan 2010. Originally launched in 1997 with a characteristic blaze of publicity from Britain's favourite entrepreneur it expected to open 2 stores a month and to have 100 in 5 years. Virgin Cosmetics created losses and half its shops were closed when Branson sold the business and it became Effective Cosmetics a couple of years ago. Under the terms of the announcement, 80 staff will lose their jobs. The business lost £1 M on sales of £1.7 M in the five months to end August