93-Year-Old Godfreys Chain to Close All Stores, Lay Off Staff Immediately

Australian retailer Godfreys will close all remaining stores and lay off 25 head office staff immediately. The vacuum cleaner chain will be phased out between now and May 31, after no suitable bids were received to buy the 93-year-old business from voluntary administration. PwC Australia partner Craig Crosbie said on March 20 that despite receiving 55 expressions of interest and six tentative offers, none were enough to secure the business’s future. “This is not the outcome Godfrey’s had hoped for following a rigorous process to find a purchaser for the business that could keep the store network trading,” he said. “In the absence of any further bidders coming forward as intermittent trading continues, the process of closing all remaining stores will progress over the next eight weeks.”...