Creditors line up in liquidation of upmarket hairdresser Dry & Tea

Dry & Tea had City Works, Britomart and Newmarket salons. Photo / Dry & Tea

An upmarket hairdresser’s insolvency has left big-time Auckland landlords owed rent but Inland Revenue, Hancocks and Office Max are also creditors.

AS Retail traded as the hairdressing business Dry & Tea from three Auckland sites and one in Christchurch, offering a cuppa with the blow waves.

It closed this month, leaving a staffer in tears. The Herald reported a client who attended one of the Auckland salons every three weeks saying she was sitting in the chair as the dye was being mixed for her hair when the stylist approached her with tears in her eyes: “She was apologising, she couldn’t do my hair, but they had just all been told that it was all over.”

Salons were at 57 Tyler St in the Britomart, 90 Wellesley St West at the City Works Depot, on the corner of Kent St and York St in Newmarket and 166 Cashel St, Christchurch.

Bryan Williams of BWA Insolvency has released his first report on the business owned and directed by Amy Sznicer who has a Brisbane address on the NZ Companies Office.

Cooper & Company which owns the Britomart office/retail/dining/tourism precinct is a creditor. Its principal leasing director Jeremy Priddy was named as the contact person there. Jeremy Hanson, Britomart Group Management Company’s communications and community director, said today the business had no comment to make on Dry & Tea and how much was owed to Cooper and Company in rent.

The City Works Depot is owned by Tournament Property, which also appears in Williams’ report as a creditor, indicating rent is owed there as well.

Other creditors are Hancocks Wine, Spirit and Beer Merchants, IRD, Kiwi Eftpos & Point of Sale Group, Loreal NZ, Magz2u Magazines, One Music, Tea Total (2018), Urban Garden, Office Max, Carter Group and Finance Now.

Dateline Imports and Luxury Regime are other creditors.

Williams said the speciality hairdresser suffered difficult times during the pandemic.

That was “due to an inability to perform on occasions of lockdown, as well as the broad consequences of operating a business involving close contact with the delivery of services. An additional consequence of the pandemic was the shortage of staff available in the industry which resulted in an increase in costs that were unable to be passed on to clients,” he said.

Dry & Tea fell into arrears with one of its providers, which sparked liquidation proceedings.

The shareholder recognised the inevitability of the circumstances and appointed Williams to finalise the company’s affairs, he said.

The 6d Kent St salon in Newmarket was only incorporated in May 2014.

It received considerable Government financial help during the pandemic.

AS Retail got an initial $264,000 Covid wage subsidy for 40 staff when the pandemic broke out.

It then got an extension for 38 people, totalling a further $168,000, a March 2021 payment of $46,000 then another $354,000 for 42 staff in August 2021.

That information is on the Work and Income Covid-19 wage subsidies employer database.

All up, the business that traded as Dry & Tea received more than $832,000 in Government support so it could continue to pay staff who couldn’t come to work during the lockdowns.

The salon said of how it operated: “It’s not a style, a tea, a wave or a wash – but a moment, a moment of the utmost attention. A moment focused on you, our client, a moment of appreciation, of beauty, of delight and joy. These are the moments that lock in our memories.”

If offered gift packages including “blow me away” which cost $165 and included a medium blow wave and make-up service with lashes as well as an “express cosmo” for $99, which was a dry, style and express eyes with lashes.

Williams reported the company had funds of only $3606.90 but liabilities were yet to be determined.

Williams expects the liquidation to be completed in about six months. Those owed money should contact him, he said.

Anne Gibson has been the Herald’s property editor for 23 years, having won many awards, written books and covered property extensively here and overseas.