Menswear chain Ed Harry collapses into administration
Wednesday, 23 February 2011 11:16
James Thomson   More on Retail
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Adelaide-based menswear retailer Ed Harry was placed into administration this morning, another victim of Australia’s parlous retail environment.

The company, which has 130 stores in metropolitan and regional areas, targets middle-aged men, providing casual and formal wear.

Ferrier Hodgson partners Martin Lewis and John Hart have been appointed voluntary administrators and will conduct an “urgent assessment” of the financial state of the business while it continues to trade.

“We will be working closely with senior management to stabilise the business and explore options for its future including a potential sale as a going concern,” Lewis said in a statement released this morning.

Lewis said the business was in the middle of a restructure but had been hammered by difficult retail conditions and poor consumer confidence.

“This business has been undergoing a significant reconstruction process which has been progressing according to plan,” he said.

“However the difficult retail environment has placed added pressure on the funding required to complete the change initiatives across all areas of the business, leading to the appointment of administrators.”

The first “Harry” menswear store was opened in Adelaide in 1932 and in 1971 Edward Harry joined his father’s business, aggressively expanding during the 1990s.

The business was sold to current owner Neil Brine in 1993.

A first meeting of creditors will be held on March 4.

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Comments (1)
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written by ItsAllGoingDownMan, February 23, 2011

More similar stories to come, more people to lose thier jobs - and much retail employs Gen X and Y - many of which have just (stupidly) bought mega-homes with mega-mortgages because they didn't want to start small like their parents. Mortgage defaults will spike, unsold housing stock will flood market and prices will fall. The signs are everywhere. How do people think business and the economy will be okay if the EVIDENCE says people are stopping spending - there's no one arguing with that fact - how does anyone explain how the economy will be fine with reduced spending? I've yet to see a spruiker explain that!

The last stimulus returned less than 25% back to the economy. the rest was used to reduce debt. hardly a worthy cause and appalling waste of money. But then again is there ANYTHING that labor has dne that HASNT been an apalling waste of money?

laborfornever wrote on Feb 24^th, 2011 at 10:22pm:



Oh FFS, peoples, get over yourselves!

There will be a steady range of adjustments within the economy - and one possible positive result is that some passive shareholder parasites addicted to big-polluting industries will need to lower their expectations on their profit growth - to either sustained profits or single digit profit growth...

Meantime, there will be many renewable industries popping up and flourishing...

How could that possibly be a bad thing!?

Meh. Who the hell ever shopped there anyway. As for the bookstores, it's their own stupid fault.

I'm really finding it hard to care. Sorry.

Hey - How about  the Rents these shops must pay. Many, actually Most of these shops locate in Malls.

Mall shopping centres like Stocklands etc charge enormous rent. With on top added cost of the Renter to pay for any upgrades to the shop, and their shop fronts, in the mall. Then also  they pay a percentage of their shops takings to the landlord weekly.

So basically the landlord gets all his mall upgraded by the tenants as well as rent and some of their profit.

Quote:




veg when Lendlease bought our local shocentre from the govt... the tennants were expected to pay for the upgrade of their particular shop, make it more modern and then they would increase the rent because their business would increase and rents are based on business.

the tennants had to endure auditors from L.L. sitting in their shops writing down every transaction. yet for some unknown reason these malls never have trouble finding tennants.

I dont even go to my local mall anymore its hideous/

and I have noticed the car park at the smaller shopping centre I now use is filling up more and more as time goes by..they dont charge for parking either.. very rare here now.

mavisdavis wrote on Feb 26^th, 2011 at 8:51am:



Ironically, you are a proponent of ruining lives - it's just that you seem to think that the elite few are worthy of disproportionate income and wealth and that it is somehow acceptable for large corporations (and their parasitic CEOs and shareholders) to ruin the day to day lives of the disempowered majority (including SMEs) because they don't matter as long as unbridled 'competition' prevails...

Socio-economic and environmental change and evolution go on every day out there in the name of 'competition' - but regulated change and regulation is somehow considered taboo!?  Go figure, eh!?

Seriously, you don't think that the socio-economic changes brought about by the much-vaunted 'competition' dogma of unbridled capitalism and corporatism don't evolve to ruin lives on a daily basis!?

Where is your venom, for those multinational corporations who systematically-undermine our national prosperity by declining to train local workers, offshoring jobs and importing cheap labour!?

Have you not noticed that 'competition' eventually comes full-circle into 'consolidation' - and the inevitable exploitation that comes with triopoly, duopoly and monopoly control!?

Have you not noticed that: in practice, 'foreign investment' = 'foreign ownership'!?

Get over yourself and start looking at the bigger picture - and consider the broader ramifications in the future if we continue to allow exponential growth in parasitic and destructive industries and entities (and of CEOs in particular)...

Ex Dame Pansi wrote on Feb 24^th, 2011 at 7:30pm:


what about quadrupling the first home buyers scam and allow any non residents to buy up all of the property and land bank it

that should keep it going for another 6 months LOL