Banks Group goes in to receivership
Banks Group, which includes New Zealand retail stores Banks Shoes, Shoe Connection, SNKR, and Plimmer Shoes has been put into receivership at the request of its director.
PwC partners John Fisk and David Bridgman were appointed as receivers on Friday. Fisk and Bridgman said in a statement they will work with management to decide whether to sell the business as a whole or in part, which may involve some store closures.
Banks Group operates 14 stores in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch as well as an online business and employs approximately 170 staff.
Fisk said, ’’I understand they went through an expansion stage, opening new stores over the last couple of years and some of those didn’t perform as well as they expected.’’
PwC receivers have not yet determined the extent of the company’s debt.
Fisk said the recent receiverships of Postie Plus, Nicholas Jermyn, and now Banks Group were reflected disruption in the retail sector, particularly clothing.
He said Banks Group would immediately close two Shoe Connection stores in Auckland, one in Newmarket and one in the NorthWest Shopping Centre.
He would know over the next week which other businesses would close.
Director John Bank took over the company from his father upon his retirement, 30 years ago.
Banks declined to comment on the receivership when contacted on Sunday.
His father, Cecil Bank opened the first shop, Banks Shoes, in Lower Hutt in 1938.
The Hutt store was the first in New Zealand to X-ray people’s feet to ensure a good fit, though Bank was told later the practise ‘‘wasn’t a very healthy thing’’.
Having survived decades longer than other High St ‘brick and mortar’ businesses, like Carey’s Drapery, Liebezeit’s glassware and Thomas menswear, Banks Group was the latest in a history of older businesses that struggled with tight margins and high rental rates.
Locally Bank has been in conflict with the city council in recent years over his High St shop.
He had argued for free parking and hinted that the shop would close if the council continued to charge for parking.
Retail NZ Greg Harford said it was harder to be a retailer than ever before.
Harford said brick and mortar retailers were competing with local and overseas businesses and facing a ‘‘real mounting pressure’’ to compete in the crowded marketplace.