50sixone dessert bar chain falls into liquidation
Known for its extravagant shakes, Adelaide dessert bar chain 50sixone has called in liquidators, forcing the closure of three outlets and leaving employees out of pocket.
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Adelaide dessert bar chain 50sixone has fallen into the hands of liquidators, forcing the closure of its three remaining outlets.
Liquidator Tim Clifton from Clifton Hall was on Thursday appointed to wind up six companies in the chain, including dessert bars at Hyde Park, Prospect and Henley Beach.
The collapse affects close to 80 staff, who were mostly employed on a casual basis.
Mr Clifton said the Hyde Park bar, the company’s first outlet, had been affected by recent roadworks on the strip.
“I guess it’s one of those things - poor trading, you get behind on debts and statutory obligations,” he told The Advertiser.
“All (bars) will have debts to the landlord, probably some tax debt, some employees will be owed money, but because they’re casual they won’t have entitlements - probably just a few days’ wages.”
50sixone takes its name from the postcode for Hyde Park, where its first store opened in 2016.
It developed a reputation for its indulgent desserts and freak shakes, with pictures spreading via social media sites such as Instagram.
The chain quickly expanded with openings at Mount Barker and in the Palace Nova cinema complex at Prospect in 2017, and an additional store at Henley Beach early last year.
However, the expansion hit a bump in the road in 2018, when its Mount Barker outlet closed.
In addition to the bar closures, three other entities - 50-Sixone Catering Pty Ltd, 50-Sixone Payroll Pty Ltd and 50-Sixone Mexican Pty Ltd will also be wound up by liquidators.
Mia Margarita at Henley Beach, which formed part of the 50sixone group, has been taken over by 50sixone shareholder Zac Makins who will reopen the Mexican restaurant today.
“He (50sixone director Sokky Taing) called me yesterday morning and said, ‘look mate, I can’t push this any further’,” Mr Makins said.
“I left the company six or seven months ago but Mia Margarita was my idea and that’s why I’ve continued with it - I’ve run it on my own from day dot.”
