For a business that was supposed to be calling in the receivers yesterday, activity at the Lifestyle Store was pretty intense today, with people stripping product from shelves while others packed boxes.
Operating behind locked doors several men were seen packing supplier’s stock with Lifestyle store vehicles and trailers and empty boxes lined up out the back of the North Parramatta store in Sydney.
Outside the store one man claimed that he was there to collect a $90,000 deposit. As soon as ChannelNews started taking pictures, the men packing boxes disapeared into a back room.
ChannelNews has several video’s of multiple people packing boxes. 
Questions are now being asked as to why the so called “debt ridden business has not called in the receivers” following weeks of intense shareholder sell downs and claims by Danny Assabgy (Seen below), the CEO of Sydney-based Hudson Homes and Investment Company Equiti that he is “now in control of the business”.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efQgsOtQZrw[/embedyt]
He claims that he removed Vinod Frederick Hiranjan Christie David, the former CEO of the business and his partner John Kranitis, from the operations of the business despite Vinod Christie David still being linked in ASIC filings.
Normally when directors or shareholders discover that a business is insolvent which is what suppliers are being told a receiver or administrator is appointed.
This appears not to be the case with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission having no record of The Lifestyle Store or other linked entities being under the control of administrators or receivers.
Two weeks ago, both John Kranitis his business partner and Vinod Christie David told ChannelNews “We are not going broke, we have new investors who are putting money into the business”.
Questions now are being asked as to why stock is being removed.
Danny Assabgy who invested in the Theatre at Home Business is owed over $5M dollars last night he told ChannelNews “I made a huge mistake investing in the business” he said.
He also slammed the previous operators of the business.
What’s not known is whether stock is being removed to pay off some of the debt linked with the business with suppliers left out of pocket.
Assabgy claims that it was his financial controller who realised after inspecting the books that the Lifestyle Store was a total mess with the real possibility emerging that the business had been trading “insolvent” for some time he claimed.
The big question now, is why Assabgy has, not called in the receivers already, after locking up the store on Wednesday.
We do know that he has been calling suppliers to see if anyone is interested in buying the business which most industry executives claim is “worthless” in its current form.
This is not the first time that John Kranitis and Vinod Christie David who was also heavily involved in the failed Strathfield Car Radio business, which went broke for over $67 million have been involved in failed Companies.
20 years ago, their first custom install and premium audio business went broke leaving the very same suppliers who are now facing a new round of losses owed millions.
Suppliers claim that the Lifestyle Store has been a basket case for more than 10 years, with Vinod David and Kranitis spinning yarns to get credit.
In the end most suppliers such as Yamaha, the former Sound United and the likes of Westan had them on cash only or credit cards but despite this method of doing business, the debts built up.
Just before Covid Paul Riachi the CEO of Indi Imports sent trucks up to Sydney from Melbourne, to get back tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of goods including Loewe TV’s and sound systems, that he had supplied because the Lifestyle Store was unable to pay for the stock.
It was not just suppliers that management were not paying the father of his web developer helped to build out the new look North Parramatta store.
He was not paid.
Then there was the small businessman who serviced warranty returns he also claims that he was not paid.
According to insiders he recently held stock back that was in for repair claiming that he would only hand them over if he was paid.
