Australian company Boozebud collapses as retail casualties pile up

The popular business has laid off all its staff immediately and stopped taking orders, with administrators urgently investigating some surprising details.

Australian online bottle shop BoozeBud has collapsed – becoming the latest in a growing list of casualties for the retail sector.

The company announced it was no longer taking orders on its website and had appointed Michael Brereton and Sean Wengel of William Buck as joint administrators on Tuesday.

Mr Brereton said the administrators are undertaking an urgent assessment of the business’ financial position.

“We have made the difficult decision that the company has insufficient funds to continue operating,” he told news.com.au.

“We have accordingly been forced to stop taking future orders via the online portal … We have also, made the difficult decision to lay off staff.”

The administrators did not reveal how many staff were impacted but were urgently exploring a sale of the business and assets or are seeking an investment of funds for the brand with expressions of interest sought by May 9.

“BoozeBud Holdings has seen the majority of the board of directors resign over the course of the past few months,” Mr Brereton also revealed.

“Interestingly, the sole director of BoozeBud Holdings Ltd was only appointed as a director of the company on Wednesday 26 April 2023. The remaining directors then resigned on 27 April 2023. Further inquires are being made in this regard.”

BoozeBud announced its collapse on the website. Picture: BoozeBud

BoozeBud’s collapse comes after it acquired Get Wines Direct back in December 2021 in a deal that gave it access around 200,000 active customers and $80 million in combined annual revenue.

Get Wines Direct operates as an independent business outside of Boozebud and is not believed to be impacted.

The acquisition of Get Wines Direct made BoozeBud the largest online pure-play alcohol retailer, the company claimed at the time.

The Get Wines Direct AisleOne app. Picture: Supplied.

Before its downfall, BoozeBud had also revealed plans to list on the Australian Stock Exchange.

It was initially launched in 2014 by Alex Gale, Mark Woollcott, and Andy Williamson under the name BeerBud and focused on craft beer with the aim of challenging brick and mortar bottle shops.

In 2016 it was rebranded to BoozeBud to include a wider variety of alcohol before it was sold to Carlton United Breweries’ then owner, AB InBev, before it was bought out by Asahi.

BoozeBud then changed hands again returning the ownership to its founders, Catcha Group and some individual investors in 2020.

Just eight months ago Stuart Barclay started as CEO at BoozeBud and recently revealed it had moved warehouses and third-party logistics providers, rebuilt its digital marketing channels, and changed offices.

The first creditor’s meeting for BoozeBud will be held on May 9 and the future of the company will be decided by creditors at the second meeting, Mr Brereton said.

BoozeBud had been operating since 2014. Picture: BoozeBud

One of the founders Mr Woollcott revealed he was leaving the business six months ago and posted an emotional tribute to the brand.

“We started as a few craft beer nerds who knew nothing about the alcohol industry and wanted to create a better way to buy and discover awesome beers. It’s been a wild, crazy, stressful and fun ride with many ups and downs and unexpected twists,” he said at the time.

He added he was “immensely proud of the part BoozeBud has played in growing e-commerce in the alcohol industry in Australia and creating a platform for our customers to sample an ever increasing number of awesome drinks with the explosion of craft”.

“This year we also welcomed Get Wines Direct to our group as we continue our dream of building Australia’s leading online alcohol retailer,” he said.

“As a founder it is always hard to finally move on and hand your baby over, but I have full confidence in our awesome team and that they are the best people to take our business through its next stage.

“I will miss a lot of things, but it’s the people I will miss the most. I want to say thank you to our amazing team, for believing in our vision and taking a chance on us, our investors for backing us, our suppliers who supported us along the way and of course our amazing and loyal customers.

“I am excited to watch the BoozeBud journey continue, but this time from afar as a shareholder and lifelong customer.”

It is the latest retailer to collapse. Picture: BoozeBud

BoozeBud is the latest company in Australia’s retail industry to go under, including a number of e-commerce brands such as Bobux and Ezibuy, as well as online gourmet food marketplace Colab although it was saved by an acquisition from Melbourne-based Efoodz.

Iconic music and entertainment retailer Sanity shut down all 50 of its stores across Australia at the end of March, as the pandemic took a toll on the business, although it continues operate in a digital space.

Also in March, Australian fresh food distribution company In2Food went bust for a second time in less than two years with up to $20 million in debt and 1000 creditors owed money.

In February, Australian prestige clothes firm Alice McCall went into liquidation. News.com.au reported that the company owes $1 million to creditors.

Then in January, furniture seller Brosa fell into liquidation after its restructuring attempt failed, leaving behind debts of $24 million, including $10 million to customers from unfulfilled orders.