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Marquee Retail Group (MRG), the owner of fashion accessories brands Colette and The Daily Edited, has been placed into voluntary administration following a downturn in sales that has persisted over the past five months.
The Sydney-based company has announced that Domenic Calabretta, Mitchell Ball and Richard Lawrence, of Mackay Goodwin, have been appointed voluntary administrators to oversee the company’s business affairs.
However, the company notes that it expects the Colette by Colette Hayman and The Daily Edited businesses to continue trading with no staff cuts expected as a result of the appointment.
Marquee Retail Group says it aims to keep all stores open with a view to putting forward a deed of company arrangement (DOCA) to rescue the business while the administrators will also pursue a sale of the business as a going concern.
“Marquee Retail Group remains dedicated to its employees and is committed to providing ongoing support during this time,” the company says.
Marquee has revealed that an unexpected downturn in sales from October last year to March this year has impacted its financial performance, with the company blaming its woes on rising inflation and higher interest rates.
The sales downturn has created issues with a debt arrangement secured with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), which the company says is a legacy arrangement stemming from the COVID era.
Marquee Retail Group operates 60 stores across its portfolio, with 57 of them Colette by Colette Hayman.
This is the second time in four years administrators have been appointed to Collette, an affordable handbag, jewellery and fashion accessories business that at one time boasted 105 stores in Australia and New Zealand.
Marquee bought the slimmed down business at the end of 2020 after it fell into administration earlier that year. It added The Daily Edited to its fashion stable two years later.
The Daily Edited, commonly known by the “tde.” luxury fashion brand, operates just three outlets – two in Sydney and one in Melbourne with the QVB outlet in Sydney’s CBD as its flagship store.
The Daily Edited specialises in monogrammed lifestyle leather accessories.
Marquee Retail Group chairman Bernie Brookes says the board “regrets that these events have come to pass” and acknowledges the group’s employees “for their hard work and contribution”.
“Our decision today is about securing the future of the Marquee Retail Group and its employees, while emerging on the other side of voluntary administration,” says Brookes.
“We hope to work with all parties to ensure an outcome, either with a sale or a deed of company arrangement recommended in time by the administrator.
“For our customers, everything will remain consistent as our stores continue to operate and receive regular stock. As for our staff, their routine remains unchanged until the administrator decides upon an outcome and a way forward.”
MRG says it “values the continued support and understanding of its customers, suppliers, and employees and will maintain transparent and open communication as it navigates through this process”.
The company says it is determined to find a “constructive resolution while upholding its obligations to its valued stakeholders”.
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