Bets Gee of Magnolia Kitchen inside her cafe in Silverdale. Photo / Babiche Martens
Bets Gee of Magnolia Kitchen inside her cafe in Silverdale. Photo / Babiche Martens
Two banks, Watercare and staff are claiming $250,000-plus from an insolvent Auckland boutique cake bakery business in liquidation.
Silverdale-based Magnolia Kitchen, run by Bernadette “Bets” Gee, is now in the hands of Keaton Pronk of McDonald Vague, trying to recover money.
Publicity about the business said it had atarget="_blank"> loyal following since its humble beginnings in 2011 and Gee’s love of baking was born out of making birthday cakes as a teenage mum, the Herald has reported previously.
Pronk’s report listed many debts, however.
Former employees, ASB, Heartland, a publishing house and the utility Watercare are listed as creditors, his first report said.
Heartland Bank wants $180,000. ASB Bank is also a creditor but its claim amount is not specified.
The Silverdale bakery owes $25,129 to former employees in “wages, holiday pay and redundancy pay”, Pronk said. Employees “may recover 100 per cent on the dollar” but the liquidation has a way to go.
Unsecured creditors are claiming $87,000. Potentially offsetting that are company assets estimated to be just $30,000. The value of its Nissan vanette is to be declared.
Publisher Penguin Random House NZ is on the creditor list.
The liquidation report did not state the amount owed to IRD but said the agency is owed GST, PAYE and other payroll deductions.
Powershop, Trustpower, Spark and rubbish removers Green Gorilla and Econowaste made Magnolia’s creditors list along with Coastwide Pest Control.
Magnolia Kitchen's Instagram. Photo / Instagram
Pronk said the business operated as a baked goods manufacturing and retail store with an attached cafe in Silverdale.
It had an event catering business too and expended into a sweet cafe which was originally at 29c Silverdale St.
Directors told him they had tried to cut material costs but that couldn’t be achieved. Shareholders therefore decided to close the business.
Gee announced Magnolia’s end on her Instagram account late last year telling followers: “I am incredibly heartbroken to announce Magnolia Kitchen effective 7th October 22 is in liquidation. I have given my all to this business over the past 10 years. 2 children, 1 wedding, 2 premises, 2 books, 1000s of cakes, countless friends, and insane amount of meaningful connections.”
She attributed Magnolia’s failure to “Covid and a poorly timed move to our massive (expensive) premises 6 weeks before the first lockdown and subsequent shortfalls within the business over the past 2.5 years”.
She told Instagram followers, “I am just sorry truly from the bottom of my heart sorry that I have let my family, staff (work family), stockists, suppliers, customers and loyal community locally and online down.”
The liquidator said cashflow shortages increased overheads for the business at a second location in Silverdale that opened in 2020.
Gee faced public criticism in 2020 after Magnolia Kitchen was granted essential service status to stay open during level 4 lockdown, sparking online criticism towards the owner.
