Tuesday, July 05, 2011

REDgroup administration: 2 A&R stores sold; remaining company stores to close

The Australian Bookseller & Publisher

REDgroup administrators Ferrier Hodgson have announced today that the last of the Angus & Robertson (A&R) bookstores owned by REDgroup Retail will close down by the end of this month.

REDgroup administrators Ferrier Hodgson said that Angus & Robertson (A&R) stores in Harbourtown and Carindale, which are both located in Queensland, have been sold and will trade under different owners and names. Negotiations for the sale of a third Queensland store are continuing.
The remaining 16 company-owned A&R stores will close down by the end of this month. Ferrier Hodgson said the closures will affect 174 employees. A further eight employees at REDgroup headquarters have also been made redundant over the past week.

The administrators said that the latest round of store closures will not affect the remaining 47 A&R franchise stores which are continuing to trade. Ferrier Hodgson hinted at the possibility that the stores might become independent bookstores, however, saying 'it is likely these [stores] will undergo various name changes in coming weeks'.
Today's announcement signals the end of Angus & Robertson as a bricks-and-mortar bookseller in Australia, and follows the closure of Reader's Feast bookstore in Melbourne and the remaining Borders bookstores, announced by Ferrier Hodgson in June. The A&R online business is continuing to operate, following yesterday's announcement that Pearson Australia will acquire the online businesses of REDgroup Retail

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