2. G-Star Raw goes into liquidation – the Australian operators of Dutch denim designer, G-Star-Raw, have gone into voluntary administration in order to counter “well-documented difficult trading conditions in the fashion industry”. The Australian operation involves 21 stores. The international arm of G-Star Raw, which is not linked with the local operators, also sells G-Star garments through stores like David Jones and Glue Store.
3. Man To Man stores sold – all remaining 62 Man To Man retail stores and their 242 employees will be transferred to new owners following discussion with administrators just 2 months after the group went into voluntary administration.
4. Heston Blumenthal’s Fat Duck restaurant is to open for a restricted season in Melbourne while his UK restaurant is renovated. A ballot was held for dining seats at $525 per head (plus drinks), and quickly closed when the limit of 14,000 bookings was reached. The 13 course meal is held over 4 or so hours and obviously plenty of diners were not put off by the cost.
5. Cadbury cops flack over reduced size of chocolate bar. Cadbury has reduced the size of its family block from 220gm to 200gm whilst maintaining the cost. Chocolate lovers around Australia were up in arms and forced Cadbury to issue a statement saying they preferred to keep a quality product affordable in the face of rising production costs.
6. Save The Cockroaches – a Canberra vegetarian restaurant has been fined $16,000 for failing to get rid of insect pests on its premises on moral grounds. The owner chose not to exterminate the cockroaches because it would involve “killing little creatures”. He has since accepted that his decision was based on misguided morals.
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