Sleepmaster, the company behind iconic homeware brands, in receivership as the parlous state of Australia’s retail sector continues to reverberate through the supply chain

August 13, 2013 Leave a comment

Reported byMike King, The Motley Fool.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

One of Australia’s leading bedroom product companies, Sleepmaster, has gone into receivership as the tough retail sector claims another victim. Sleepmaster is the owner of iconic brands including Jason, a pillow and quilt brand, blanket brand Onkaparinga and Trailmaster camping equipment. It describes itself as Australia and Asia’s leading manufacturer of bedroom product including quilts, pillows, mattress protectors, underblankets and underquilts. The company has been operating in Victoria since 1938, and has manufacturing, warehousing and logistics facilities in China. Around 500 employees could lose their jobs, both in China and Australia, should the company be wound up.Sleepmaster sells many of its products through major chain retailers such as David Jones Limited (ASX:DJS), Myer Holdings (ASX:MYR) as well as discount retailers such asWesfarmers (ASX:WES) owned Kmart and Target, andWoolworths’ (ASX:WOW) Big-W stores.

According to BRW, Sleepmaker was placed into receivership on August 8 by secured creditor Bibby Financial. Bibby is one of Australia’s largest cash flow lenders, and operates in 15 different countries.

Australia’s tough retail sector is proving difficult for many companies to survive. Weak consumer confidence has seen many of our leading retailers suffer falling revenues since the global financial crisis. Add in online shopping and the rise of online retailers, along with stores trading on sites such as Ebay, and consumers have been choosing to go for products with the lowest prices, pushing traditional retailers and producers to the wall. Fashion brand Lisa Ho recently collapsed, while food manufacturer Spring Gully went into administration in April this year.

We also saw the demise of Darrell Lea, the chocolate manufacturer in September 2012 while iconic tomato sauce maker Rosella closed in March.

Foolish takeaway

Price deflation, the high Australian dollar, intense competition in the retail sector, cheap imports and online competition could all be blamed for the demise of Sleepmaker. It just goes to show what the retail sector has been forced to cope with over the past few years.  While it’s a sad moment, it’s no real surprise that some companies haven’t made it through the rough patch, given the conditions.

James Thomson Editor

Company behind iconic homeware brands in receivership

Published 13 August 2013 10:13, Updated 13 August 2013 12:34

Sleepmaster is the company behind well-known homeware brands Jason and Oknaparinga.

The company behind some of the biggest homeware brands in the country has been placed in receivership as the parlous state of Australia’s retail sector continues to reverberate through the supply chain.

Sleepmaster, which has been operating in Victoria since 1938, describes itself as Australia and Asia’s leading manufacturer of bedroom product, including quilts, pillows, mattress protectors, underblankets and underquilts.

It is the owner of iconic brands including pillow and quilt brand Jason and blanket brand Oknaparinga, both of which are sold through major chain retailers.

The business is now in the hands of receivers and managers Michael Humphris and Stephen Dixon from accounting Grant Thornton. They were appointed on August 8.

In addition, administrator Jim Downey of Melbourne firm JP Downey & Co was appointed on the same day o represent unsecured creditors.

Downey told BRW the business was placed in receivership by secured creditor Bibby Financial.

Bibby is one of Australia’s largest cash flow lenders and provides invoice discounting services (also known as factoring).

Sleepmaster was purchased in a management buyout in 2000 and has manufacturing plants in suburban Melbourne and in the Chinese city of Nantong in the Jiangsu province. The company’s website says it has 500 employees.

In addition to its homeware brands, Sleepmaster also owns the Trailmaster brand, which sells camping equipment such as sleeping bags, tents and stretchers.

The Jason brand is also sold into the commercial hospitality sector.

The company, which appears to be continuing to trade, was contacted for comment on Tuesday morning.

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