Harris Scarfe department store chain placed into voluntary administration
Only recently acquired by new owners Harris Scarfe have now appointed Deloitte Restructuring Services as receivers and BDO as voluntary administrators.
The business will continue trading as normal over the Christmas period, and it is understood that staff will be paid by the receivers.
The South Australian retailer employs over 1800 staff with 66 stores including Moruya.
Deloitte have stated that they are confident the business contains sufficient assets to meet employee entitlements, and intends to achieve a going-concern sale of the business while preserving as many jobs as possible.
Harris Scarfe began back in South Australia in 1849 where Mr George Peter Harris & Mr John C Lanyon formed a partnership and laid the foundations for their business as Lanyon & Harris.
Lanyon & Harris opened their first premises in Hindley Street, Adelaide during 1850 in a large brick warehouse and operated as an ironmongery wholesaler. After 5 years of trading, Lanyon returned home to England leaving Harris as the sole owner of the business and the opportunity to change the name to Geo. P. Harris.
1857 saw George Harris welcome George Scarfe and Richard Smith as major partners and so began Geo. P. Harris Scarfe & Co. In 1877 the company purchased their first Grenfell Street address, not too far from the current flagship store located in the busy Rundle Mall shopping hub.
The business continued to grow and in 1920 the company was rebranded to Harris Scarfe, the name we all know it as today.
2015 saw Harris Scarfe receive a new lease of life with a new logo, new signage, and the opening of new stores along with older stores receiving an updated new look.
