Both Vendors and Insurers have said that they are set to “get tough” with consumer electronics and IT retailers who breach their trading terms following the collapse of the buying group Retravision Southern, some vendors have hit out claiming Retravision “period” is a “basket case”.Both Vendors and Insurers have said that they are set to “get tough” with consumer electronics and IT retailers who breach their trading terms following the collapse of the buying group Retravision Southern.
Retravision Southern who have struggled for the past 18 months was placed into administration today. Bryan Webster and Leanne Chesser of KordaMentha have been appointed voluntary administrators of the company, which acts as the central buyer and brand manager for 104 independently-owned Retravision franchise stores in Victoria, Southern New South Wales and Tasmania the group is believed to have debts in the tens of millions.
The Finance Director of a major national vendor said “The ego of management across the entire Retravision groups has bought about this collapse. My understanding is that receivers will be appointed and then liquidation will follow. The Retravision groups should of amalgamated 10 years ago. Some big vendors are now questioning whether they should support Retravision at all”.
He said “They are doing nothing to change their retail environment, they are fast becoming a yesterday retailer, with a stack them high sell it low mentality which no longer works in today’s market”.
“The Good Guys, Better Electrical, JB Hi Fi and Harvey Norman are at least making an effort and I think you will find that a consensus is being formed among vendors that they will only support retailers who can demonstrate that they are making a concerted effort to change and that they have the cash flow to support change in their business”.
According to administrators KordaMentha the exact financial State of the group will not be known till tonight.
A senior executive of a major insurance group who provides credit risk for vendors said “We have spelt out to our clients that they have to get tough with retailers who are breaching their trading terms. We believe that the collapse of Retravision Southern and the possible collapse of another retailer will send some vendors into bankruptcy” they said.
KordaMentha said in a statement today that “Mr Bryan Webster and Ms Leanne Chesser of KordaMentha were today appointed voluntary administrators of Retravision Southern Limited (RVS).
“Established in 1961, RVS is an unlisted public company which employs approximately 35 personnel. It should be noted that the appointment is NOT over the independent Retravision stores which continue to operate. Nor does it apply to Retravision Western and Retravision Northern which operate in other States and northern NSW.”
ChannelNews understands that on Friday Retravision Southern members were presented with “paperwork to sign” that would make them members of either Retravision Australia or Retravision WA.
One vendor who did not want to be named said that he had received an email that said “You may have heard that Retravision Southern (RVS) has appointed KordaMentha as voluntary administrators this morning. In the background we have been working busily to establish a store migration program including processes and procedures, to offer the RVS credit worthy and secured dealers an immediate supply agreement through either Retravision Western or Retravision Northern, as we work towards fully migrating them into the respective Retravision businesses.”
Five vendors in the CE market that ChannelNews has spoken to have said they will not expand their relationships to cover the Sothern stores until they have a “clearer picture” of the issues and the risk. They are also information from their Insurance Brokers regarding possible liabilities.
