National Aussie retailer selling stock as it says it is shutting down: ‘Everything must go’

A massive national fashion retailer that has been on the brink of collapse for some time has reportedly finally succumbed.

A massive national fashion retailer that has been on the brink of collapse for some time has reportedly finally succumbed.

CBCH AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, better known by its trading name Colette by Collette Hayman, announced it had been saved from closure last year but now appears to be poised to shut its doors for good.

Colette by Colette Hayman has been a registered business since 2012 and specialises in selling accessories such as jewellery and bags, with stores in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, the ACT, South Australia and Western Australia.

This week, the retailer announced a flash sale with deals of as much as 80 per cent off its stock while a sign outside one store warned it was shutting down imminently.

At a South Australia store in Westfield Tea Tree Plaza, a sign read: “Final day of trade. 60–80% off. Everything must go!”

Staff separately told 7NEWS that the company was indeed shutting down after years of financial struggles.

The retail workers learned the news on Thursday.

The flash sale promises as much as 80 per cent off items.

The Colette by Collette Hayman brand has been in financial strife for some time.

The brand appears poised to close.

Colette by Colette Hayman falls under the Marqee Retail Group banner, which is the holding company behind the brand.

Marquee Retail Group is owned and chaired by Bernie Brookes, the former Myer and Edcon chief executive.

The Colette brand had been limping along since May last year, when the business went into administration.

But the appointed administrators, Domenic Calabretta, Mitchell Ball, and Richard Lawrence of insolvency firm Mackay Goodwin, appeared to have turned its fortunes around.

They secured a deed of company arrangement from Marquee Retail Group, where the holding company put forward money to save the business by propping it up and taking it out of administration, in June last year.

Priority creditors received back 100c for every dollar they were owed under the deal, while important suppliers got back 20c in the dollar. Landlords received 10c and other unsecured creditors recovered 5c in the dollar.

The deal also involved the group paying back $35,000 in monthly instalments over a four-year period.

Marquee Retail Group kept 40 stores in operation. The brand originally had more than 60 stores.

It was estimated at the time this saved 400 jobs and fewer than 10 people lost their employment in the restructure.

However, less than a year later, the business appears to have collapsed.

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Colette by Collette Hayman is well known for its accessories range.

The Daily Edited is also doing a major flash sale.

The administration appointment was blamed on unplanned downturn in sales the business faced from October 2023 to March 2024.

Marquee Retail Group also owns leather accessories label The Daily Edited, or the tde.

This brand, entirely online, is also advertising having a 70 per cent off “site wide” flash sale.

Its fate also remains unclear.

News.com.au contacted The Daily Edited and Colette by Colette Hayman for comment.

It comes as retail stores around Australia are struggling and falling like dominoes.

News.com.au reported that Ally Fashion was ordered to be wound up by the Federal Court of Australia at the end of February due to insolvency, with liquidators moving quickly to shut down 51 stores and axe hundreds of jobs. The fast fashion chain had 158 stores across Australia and an online store, as well as employing 1669 staff before its collapse.

It was revealed in the NSW court a month later that Ally Fashion’s debt could sit at a staggering $58 million, according to the company’s director.

Iconic fashion brand Jeanswest called in administrators on Wednesday to wind up the company’s 90 bricks-and-mortar stores, with 600 jobs set to go.

Mosaic Brands, which boasted iconic brands like Autograph, Noni B, Katies, Millers and Rivers, fell into liquidation and could not find a buyer with hundreds of stores closed as a result.

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