Noni B to close down Tea Tree Plaza store

A women’s clothing chain will close down another of its Adelaide stores, leaving just six in the state, as part of a mass shutdown of retail outlets by its embattled owner.

Noni B will close down its Tea Tree Plaza store on January 25.

Women’s clothing chain Noni B will close its Tea Tree Plaza outlet for the last time before Australia Day, as part of a mass shutdown of retail outlets by its embattled parent company Mosaic Brands.

Mosaic Brands fell into administration on October 28, before receivers from KPMG took control and announced plans to close all 80 of the company’s Katies stores across the country, and 80 other outlets operating under the Millers, Rivers and Noni B brands.

The Noni B store at the Barossa Central shopping mall in Nuriootpa will close at the end of January, with the Tea Tree Plaza closure on January 25 leaving the brand with just six outlets in South Australia - at Unley, Ingle Farm, West Lakes, Marion, Port Adelaide and Renmark.

The future of those stores remains uncertain, with a KPMG spokesman confirming store closures across the Millers, Rivers and Noni B brands were still being determined, and would be finalised by the end of February.

All 80 Katies stores are being closed down.

The 160 store closures and the resulting redundancies of about 480 casual, part-time and full-time retail workers was announced on December 20 and was initially expected to be wrapped up by the end of January.

At the time of the announcement, KPMG said the restructure would result in a “reduction in ongoing costs and improvements to Mosaic’s working capital position”, while a white knight was sought to acquire the business or provide an injection of new funding.

Just weeks before calling in administrators from FTI Consulting, ASX-listed Mosaic Brands – one of Australia’s largest retail groups – announced that it would axe its fashion brands Rockmans, Autograph, Crossroads, W.Lane and BeMe, including the closure of more than 200 stores and websites. Mosaic previously ran a network of about 700 stores with several online sales portals.

According to documents filed with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the company owes creditors close to $250m, including more than 300 employees.

Katies has its roots in Adelaide, where it opened its first ever store on Rundle St in 1954.

Originally published as Noni B to close down Tea Tree Plaza store