Jewellery retailer collapses

11.1 k views | Posted May 01, 2012 | By Coleby Nicholson

An Australian online jewellery retailer specialising in celebrity-styled jewellery and fashion accessories has been wound-up owing creditors tens of thousands of dollars.

The Australian company, Miijo Pty Ltd, was wound-up on April 4 by David Hambleton, registered liquidator with MDW Associates. Miijo operated the retail website miijo.com, selling a range of fashion jewellery including endorsed lines from high profile celebrities Kim Kardashian, Jessica Alba and fashion model Erin Wasson.

At one stage miijo.com was being promoted as the exclusive Australian retailer for Kim Kardashian’s debut jewellery collection ‘Belle Noel’ as well as Nicole Richie’s debut jewellery line ‘House of Harlow’.

Wasson, described as an American model and occasional stylist and designer, launched her own line of jewellery, ‘Low Luv’. She has appeared on the cover of many international fashion magazines, including Australian Vogue.

At various times miijo.com also sold ranges from Nicki Hilton, Eva Longoria, Jessica Alba, Hilary Duff, Miley Cyrus and American reality TV star Lauren Conrad.

At the time of the collapse the company had debts exceeding $70,000 and held nearly $50,000 in stock. Hambelton’s report to creditors advised that some of the stock might be covered by Retention of Title claims.

Disney Couture, a jewelley line inspired by and operating under license from Disney, managed to be unaffected by the collapse of the Australian online retailer.

Michael Tran, managing director of the Australian Disney Couture operation said, “We stopped supplying Miijo.com many months ago. They were always on a COD arrangement with us anyway so their collapse has not affected us.”

The fun jewellery range includes Bambi, Tinkerbell, Alice in Wonderland, The Little Mermaid and Snow White and Tran’s traditional jewellery stockists number nearly 100 in Australia and New Zealand.

Miijo was registered in 2005 and according to the liquidators report, “Although the company had enjoyed a lucrative business in past, challenges presented by the current state of the economy had rendered it unprofitable.”

The report also highlights other problems affecting the business including “reduced discretionary income curtailed the retail spending of the company’s consumers” and “the migration of some of the company’s target consumers to competitors overseas.”

The latter statement seems an unusual explanation given the high Australian dollar, and the need for international freights costs to Australian from overseas online retailers but the report goes on to highlight that overseas retailers are exempt from applying Australia’s goods and services tax (GST) to retail purchases.

As a result by February there was little or no sales being generated by Miijo, which resulted in the appointment of a liquidator and it being formally wound-up on April 4.

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