Victorian discount retail chain collapses

Discount grocery chain NQR has been placed in administration, putting 400 jobs in doubt.

The company, which operates 26 stores across Australia, sells discounted groceries and was formerly known as Not Quite Right.

Its business model involves buying excess or discontinued stock from grocery manufacturers and selling them quickly (as the goods are often close to their use-by date) and cheaply.

Ferrier Hodgson partners John Lindholm and James Stewart will act as administrators. They plan to keep the chain trading on a business-as-usual basis while they look for a buyer.

“I will be reviewing the company’s financial position to determine the options and opportunities for the business,” Lindholm said in a statement.

According to a report in The Age, the company has already cut about 130 jobs in the past 18 months and three directors quit the company in February and March.

The company last filed annual accounts in 2007, posting a $1.7 million loss on revenue of $41.8 million.

The chain was established 22 years ago in West Melbourne as a single discount variety store. The business was put up for sale in 2005 and was sold in May 2006 to a private equity consortium led by Hastings Funds Management and specialist retail investment house, Step Capital. The deal was rumoured to be worth $13 million.

The exact size of NQR’s debts remains unclear, although it is believed National Australia Bank is owed less than $1 million.

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