Rivers to close Malop St outlet after being caught up in Mosaic Brands collapse

In the same week a Geelong kitchenware outlet with a history stretching back a quarter of a century announced its imminent closure, a national brand with a large CBD footprint followed suit.

Rivers in Malop St is closing down soon. Picture: Alison Wynd

A clothing retailer with a large footprint in the CBD will soon close its doors, adding to the list of vacant buildings in central Geelong.

The Rivers outlet at 166-170 Malop St was this week advertising closing down sales in its windows and on Thursday it was confirmed the store would cease trading by mid-April at the latest.

It is one of 136 Rivers outlets across the country that will close after a buyer for the brand was unsuccessfully sought by receivers KPMG.

Close to 700 jobs will be lost across the entire network.

The timing of individual store closures will vary and be largely dependent on stock levels.

Rivers was owned by Mosaic Brands, which collapsed late last year owing $250m.

It also owned other famous brands that included Katies, Millers and Noni B.

Before going into administration, Mosaic announced it would shut down its Autograph, BeMe, Crossroads, Rockmans and W.Lane brands.

The Geelong store was in desperate need of modernisation, with customers reporting buckets placed throughout the building to capture water from a leaking roof.

Nearby furniture store FDO Living, located at 174-176 Malop St, closed last year.

Both sites are earmarked for a major redevelopment after Up Property lodged plans with the state government in November to overhaul 4180 sqm of prime CBD real estate that also takes in landholdings on Bellerine St and Powell Place.

Up Property has submitted an application for a large-scale development on Malop St in Geelong. Source: ClarkeHopkinsClarke.

“Unfortunately, a sale of Rivers was not able to be achieved,” KPMG said in a statement.

“This means the receivers have made the difficult decision to wind down this iconic Australian brand.

“The receivers would like to thank the Mosaic and Rivers employees who have all worked tirelessly during this difficult period, as well as Rivers’ loyal customer base

who have continued to support the brands.”

It remains unclear whether the Katies stores at Westfield and Gateway Plaza Leopold, and the Millers and Noni B outlets at Waurn Ponds will be impacted.

On Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister and Corio MP Richard Marles said he was committed to working with Geelong Mayor Stretch Kontelj to revitalise central Geelong,

Mr Marles, whose Corio electorate takes in the CBD, said more could be done to leverage both the heritage value of central Geelong and it’s positioning as a student town.

Also this week, the owners of Chef’s Essentials on Ryrie St said they would shut their doors in April after 25 years in business.

Hugo Rugge and wife Laura said ongoing cost-of-living pressures were central to the decision.

“Business is just becoming more complicated and expensive,” they said.

Originally published as Rivers to close Malop St outlet after being caught up in Mosaic Brands collapse