Specialty Fashion Group sold Rivers to Noni B (now known as Mosaic Brands) for $31 million.
👉 Background: Rivers, founded back in 1863, was a shoe manufacturer and wholesaler, which opened its first retail store in Sydney back in 1983. They’d sell everything from hiking books to mountain jackets and dress shoes - even Mick Jagger was a big fan!
👉 What happened: Since then, Rivers has been through a fair few hands. In 2013, Rivers was sold to Specialty Fashion Group, now called City Chic, which was when their decline started. In 2018, Specialty Fashion Group sold Rivers to Noni B (now known as Mosaic Brands) for $31 million. Mosaic Brands is the company behind Noni B, Millers, Rockmans and Katies - all your old-school fam favourites.
👉 What else: Last year, Mosaic Brands brought in administrators to try and restructure the business, including selling each of the brands individually. First Katies shut down because they couldn’t find a buyer, and now they're also shutting down and its 136 stores after failing to find a buyer.
What's the key learning?
💡The retail industry is notorious for being one of the most challenging industries for success. It’s heavily influenced by factors like consumer trends, economic cycles, and, of course the rise of e-commerce.
💡According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, retail was one of only two industries that saw a decline in the number of businesses in 2024…and the one was forestry and fishing!
💡We’ve also seen other large retailers close over the past 12 months:
Rivers’ collapse reminds us that even established brands aren’t immune to these pressures.
Sign up for Flux and join 100,000 members of the Flux family
