Receivers move on half of Staxs fashion chain

Half of women's fashion chain Staxs has gone into receivership.

The other half, controlled by a separate company but owned by the same Tauranga businessman, will continue trading.

Staxs had 21 retail outlets around the country, but 10 have now either shut their doors or are holding final closing down sales this weekend following the appointment of receivers to Topsco International NZ.

Topsco's sole director Adam Ross is also the director of Amethyst Retail Holdings, which owns the other 11 stores.

Ross' company Obsidian Group is the major shareholder of both entities and exercised its right as a security holder over Topsco to place the company into receivership, receiver Kenneth Brown said.

Topsco has been based in Tauranga for more than 35 years, and manufactured clothing for the Staxs chain there until last May when it closed the plant and shifted production to China. Amethyst Retail Holdings was incorporated at around this time.

Brown said it was business as usual at the Staxs group's Tauranga head office.

He conceded that the two separate retail operations "will obviously cause a lot of confusion".

Staxs is the third retailer within two weeks to hit trouble - last week publicly listed audio equipment retailer Eastern HiFi went into receivership, and Australian company JB Hi-Fi announced it was closing the four remaining Hill and Stewart appliance stores.

Brown said Staxs had been operating in a tough trading environment and had had lengthy discussions with its landlords over rent. "That was what precipitated [the receivership] I believe."

However, Topsco did not have a lot of external creditors and the bulk of the debt was within the group.

The focus at this stage was on getting the store closures sorted out and it was too early to say how much of a shortfall there might be. The receivers had closed the Lynmall, Glenfield, Newmarket, Botany, Tauranga and Taupo stores, with the Onehunga, Nelson and Hornby stores due to close next week.

It was hoped the Dunedin store could be sold, he said. Around 35 staff would lose their jobs.

Amethyst Retail continues to trade three other Auckland stores, three in Wellington, plus outlets in Christchurch, Hamilton and Palmerston North.