Melbourne restaurant chain Calia sacks all staff via email just days after Christmas

A lauded Melbourne restaurant chain shut all its branches just days after Christmas leaving staff wondering how they will get paid.

Around 100 employees of a top Melbourne restaurant chain learned they had lost their jobs over Christmas via email.

Last week, staff at Japanese restaurant and retail chain Calia were told the firm’s two Australian outlets – in the CBD’s Emporium shopping centre and at Chadstone in the city’s east – were to close.

The email was sent on December 28 with the doors shutting the same day. Staff were instructed not to go into work.

Calia Australia co-founder Jason Chang, who is also a City of Melbourne councillor, partially blamed “the world’s longest lockdown” for the closure, despite the last lockdown finishing more than two years ago.

The company said the workplace email accounts “will no longer be monitored” and as such any questions regarding wages or other entitlements, such as superannuation, should go to the liquidator Jirsch Sutherland.

Calia located in Melbourne CBD. Picture: Instagram

‘Quintessence of nature’s nest’

Calia Australia went into voluntary administration last June but continued to trade while a way was sought out of its financial predicament.

It’s the second business founded by Mr Chang and partner Ricky Thien to face financial problems. The pair’s Puzzle Coffee chain went into voluntary administration last year. It has four Melbourne locations, including at Southern Cross station. It continues to operate.

Calia had promoted itself as being aimed at “culinary creatives”.

Online, it said it was “driven by the pursuit of perfection for the modern gastronome” and that Calia had “captured the quintessence of nature’s nest in our selection of products, to delight even the most conscientious of palates”.

Melbourne restaurant chain Calia sacks all staff via email just days after Christmas

‘Shock’: email to staff

But the email sent to staff last week was less flowery and more abrupt.

“It is with a heavy heart and great sadness that we must convey the unfortunate news that Calia will be closing all Australian stores and ceasing operations effective today, 28th December 2023,” it read.

“We understand that this news might come as a shock to you, but this decision has not been taken lightly, and we have been working tirelessly since the Covid lockdowns to keep our stores open.”

It added that management had tried to keep the company going but “economic challenges, covid-related debt incurred and rising costs,” led to “no other option but to close our stores”.

It directed all questions about wages and other payments to the liquidator.

“We understand that it is a challenging time and the liquidation company will do its best to address your concerns during this process”.

As well as a restaurant, Calia also sold food and kitchenwares.

Calia Australia is not yet in formal liquidation but could be so within a matter of days.

According to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the liquidator’s role is to collect and sell the company’s asset to pay off debts, investigate the company’s dealings and wind down the business.

Ex-employees only get paid any outstanding entitlements after the cost of liquidation, including the liquidator’s fees, has been accounted for by asset sales.

If money can be found, outstanding wages are the first priority. Only when those have been paid to all who are owed will the liquidator look to pay superannuation and annual leave entitlements – if it has the funds to do so.

“We want to express our deepest gratitude for the hard work, dedication, and commitment that each of you has contributed to Calia, and for the thousands of customers you have helped us serve over nearly the past decade,” the email continued.

Jason Chang, a Melbourne City councillor who co founded Calia. Picture: David Caird

“It is the people who make a company, and you have been the heart and soul of ours.”

In a statement to 7News, Mr Chang said the decision to close the business had been “agonising”.

“The financial viability of running a hospitality or retail business in Melbourne has been increasingly more challenging,” he said.

“The prolonged impact of the world’s longest lockdown here, inflation leading to higher wages and operating costs, compounded by Covid-related debts, has placed Calia in an untenable financial position as we were constantly playing catch up over the past two years.”

A single branch of Calia remains open in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia.