Even though every store has been “closing down” in one form or another virtually since they opened, Ishka bosses are now on the verge of actually shutting up shop for good after the good vibes and hand chairs company was placed into voluntary administration.
The inexplicably popular chain of homewares stores, which currently operates some 60 outlets across Australia, was placed in the hands of administrators following a series of “catastrophic” events that hammered the retailer’s bottom line.
In a social media post this morning, company owner and CEO Tony Darvall said they were trying “absolutely everything” to prevent the business from winding up completely, with all stores currently attempting to haemorrhage their stock on hand.
“To our wonderful Karma Club customers,
Firstly let me personally thank you for almost 50 years of incredible loyalty to our wonderful, unique, quirky, colourful and much loved brand. We are a family owned business which has relied on amazing customers like you over the many years we have been open. We greatly appreciate that.
However after some very tough months, that may now come to an end – I am so sorry to have to let you know that we have made the difficult decision to put our business into voluntary administration.
So now we will try absolutely everything we can to save it and stay in business and keep our beautiful stores open! We are working day and night to save Ishka.”
The problems for the brand, remarkably enough, stem largely from a fumigation issue that caused a large amount of Christmas stock to be seized by customs, according to Darvall.
Prior to stock departing for Australia, a fumigator the company previously relied on lost their license to perform the vital task, resulting in stacks of Ishka’s Christmas stock arriving in Australia un-fumigated, necessitating the customs seizure. That stock didn’t arrive until late January, meaning Ishka missed out on a huge chunk of vital Christmas trade.
Darvall also put blame for the company’s spiral at the feet of a range of global disasters, including the bushfire crisis and the coronavirus outbreak.
The announcement means some 450 jobs are in limbo, although Darvall has issued assurances that, should the bottom fall out, all staff will be paid out in full.
For now, all Ishka stores are slashing prices on stock across the board. Which, this time, is for real, and not one of the cascading shock advertising stunts the company infamously employed on a near-constant basis.
