Melbourne design and brand group Shine collapses after failed retail expansion

KPMG was appointed as administrator of Shine Group on Monday after the design and brand house collapsed this week.

Shine Group included the SunnyLIFE home wares brand, which is stocked in David Jones and other Australian, New Zealand and US retailers, the Jethro & Jackson fashion label, which is stocked at Myer and other retailers, and the BODY fashion label, sold at three BODY stores in Melbourne.

Joel Bartfeld, a former nominee for the Ernst & Young Young Entrepreneur of the Year, is listed as the founder and creative director of the group, which has a turnover of less than $10 million and employs 25 staff.

Administrator Damian Templeton of KPMG told SmartCompany he was conducting an “urgent assessment” of the company’s financial situation.

While Templeton says it is still “early days” in the administration, he attributes Shine Group’s failure to its expansion into retail and the United States.

“They have had some trading losses in the last financial year plus they have had an expansion into retail which was not as successful as they would have liked and expansion into the US,” says Templeton.

“The cost of all of that has put pressure on the underlying business.”

For the time being KPMG will continue to trade Shine Group’s online and bricks and mortar stores but Templeton is assessing this.

A creditors meeting is scheduled for Thursday, July 12, when Templeton says he will “look to report to creditors on what has happened”.

Templeton says he is still working through who Shine Group’s major creditors are.

“They source a lot of product from China, so there will be a number of international and domestic creditors,” he says.

The Shine Group’s collapse is the latest in a string of administrations blamed on the tough retail conditions, with Sleep City entering administration earlier this year along with Retravision‘s buying arm.