All 136 Rivers clothing stores to shut Australia-wide by mid-April 2025

Rivers clothing store, which has existed in various guises since 1863, will shut all 136 of its outlets across Australia by mid-April 2025.

The writing has been on the wall for the iconic brand since its parent company, Mosiac Brands Group, went into voluntary administration in October last year, leading to a search for buyers to take over Rivers and other labels.

On Thursday (23 January), the company’s receivers, KPMG, announced it was unable to find a willing purchaser for the Rivers business.

“Unfortunately, the sale of Rivers was not able to be achieved. This means the receivers have made the difficult decision to wind down this iconic Australian brand,” KPMG partner David Hardy said.

“The receivers would like to thank the Mosaic and Rivers employees who have all worked tirelessly during this difficult period, as well as Rivers’ loyal customer base who have continued to support the brands”.

The closure of the Rivers brand will impact 136 Rivers stores and result in approximately 650 employees losing their jobs.

Within the Region network, this includes stores in Tuggeranong, the Canberra Outlet Centre, Cooma, Batemans Bay, Goulburn, Wollongong, Warrawong, Shellharbour, Nowra, Wagga, Albury and Deniliquin.

The store in the Canberra Outlet has already announced it will close its doors by Tuesday (28 January).

The timing of other individual store closures will vary and be largely dependent on stock levels.

Rivers originated as a shoe manufacturer and wholesaler called The Paddles Operations in the Victorian town of Charlton in 1863. Its first retail store to operate under the Rivers name opened on Sydney’s George Street in 1983. Mosiac Brands has owned the label since 2018.

Receivers have already announced that Mosaic is winding up six more of its brands (Autograph, Rockmans, Crossroads, W.Lane, BeMe and Katies).

KPMG says the receivers are continuing to work on a sale of the two remaining brands in the portfolio – Millers and Noni B.

Sale events and promotions will be run in all stores and the receivers encourage customers to visit their local store or the e-commerce site while stocks last.

The Canberra Outlet store is selling its remaining stock with discounts of between 50 and 80 per cent, with some items being sold for just $8.

Administrators have also uncovered that the parent company owes $250 million to various creditors worldwide, including just over $20 million to 23 Bangladesh garment exporters.

An exclusive Region investigation has revealed that many Mosiac Brand employees have not been paid their entitlements several months after individual store closures.

Liz Purtell, the Griffith Autograph store manager who worked there for 27 years, is still waiting to be paid out for her annual leave, long service leave, and redundancy package three months after her shop closed in October last year.

“I put so much into the job over so many years. I went down to part-time three years ago, but I still worked the same hours, often unpaid, because I was so loyal to my customers … I’m trying to find out if and when I’ll get paid, but it’s hard to get answers. It’s not just me who’s owed money,” she said.

Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) NSW secretary Bernie Smith told Region his union is involved in the administration process and is confident that Liz and all other SDA members will eventually be paid their entitlements.

He advises all union members who have lost or may lose their jobs in a Mosaic store to keep copies of all their employment records and payslips.

Original Article published by Oliver Jacques on Riotact.