Australian Bankruptcies
Godfreys Group, the iconic retailer of vacuums that has been selling cleaners for almost 100 years, has collapsed into administration, with cost of living pressures and the challenging economic environment sucking out its profitability and causing its demise.
The business had been owned by the Johnston family with former patriarch John Johnston a co-founder of the business and still active within the company at 100 years of age.
He died in 2018, just five months after he led a takeover of the business which included it being briefly listed on the stock exchange.
The business had been owned by the Johnston family with former patriarch John Johnston a co-founder of the business and still active within the company at 100 years of age.
He died in 2018, just five months after he led a takeover of the business which included it being briefly listed on the stock exchange.
“Sadly, like many retailers, we have been heavily impacted by consumer confidence and spending due to the economic era of high inflation, rising interest rates, and intense cost of living pressures,” Mr Johnston’s daughter Jane Allen said on Tuesday.
“We are also still suffering from the unprecedented business disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic,” she added.
The collapse of Godfreys has placed in doubt the future of its 141 stores across Australia and New Zealand and its 600 staff, with the voluntary administrators appointed to the failed retailer deciding that around 54 stores will close within the next two weeks with the loss of 193 staff of which 171 are in Australia.
