Legacy footwear brand Wittner calls in the administrators for business reboot

Australian footwear royalty Wittner has put its century-old business into administration in a brutally difficult market for discretionary retail.

Australian Securities and Investment Commission filings show Deloitte's Sal Algeri and David Orr took control of Wittner's Australian and New Zealand retail operations, and its holding group, on Wednesday.

The business has 20 standalone stores across Australia and New Zealand, and more than 25 concession stands across Myer and David Jones department stores.

It also operates an e-commerce platform, accessible through the Wittner website, the Myer and David Jones sites, and The Iconic.

In a statement, Algeri said trading will continue as per usual, while the joint administrators conduct an "urgent review of the group’s finances".

The administrators will seek expressions of interest from parties interested in the sale or recapitalisation of the legacy brand, he added.

It is unclear how many staff work in the Wittner business.

SmartCompany has contacted the administrators for further comment.

Wittner management said strong growth across its e-commerce and Myer concession stand operations over the past 12 months.

"However, the growth in sales has been eroded by cost pressures from rising wages and occupancy costs, and more recently challenging trading conditions and supply-chain disruptions," read its statement.

"We have invested in our range and teams over the last twelve months and remain committed to the Wittner business."

Management will work closely with the administrators to reach "the best outcome for the business and its stakeholders."

A Wittner retail store in Queensland in 2014. Source: Facebook/Wittner Shoes.

HJ Wittner founded the company in 1912 and set up shop in the west Melbourne suburb of Footscray, establishing what was then Australia's first-mail order shoe shop.

The business claims orders were so prolific the local post office expanded to keep pace with outbound deliveries.

Wittner expanded its physical footprint through the 20th century, and secured prime real estate on Melbourne's Collins Street in the 1940s, placing its brand in the famous Block Arcade shopping precinct.

The business prioritised women's shoes, offering fashionable heels, wedges, and stylish professional options.

It expanded its standalone store network and Westfield shopping centre outposts through the 1990s and 2000s.

It counted 400 staff across 40 shops and its burgeoning online operation in 2008.

The brand moved out of its Block Arcade location in 2023, but still counts a bricks-and-mortar shop on Collins' Street 'Paris end'.

Professor Gary Mortimer, a retail and consumer behaviour researcher at the Queensland University of Technology, said businesses Wittner had a loyal following built over generations.

But the business is not immune from a consumer spending crunch, caused by stubborn inflation and 13 successive interest rate hikes.

"When you have increasing costs of living, what takes place is discretionary spending is eroded," Mortimer told SmartCompany.

"Families then start to focus more heavily on servicing debt, paying back mortgages, paying rent, putting food on the table, putting fuel on the car, rather than going out and buying a new coat, or a new pair of jeans, or a new pair of boots for winter."

A relatively weak Australian dollar also hurts local businesses sourcing products from overseas, Mortimer added, eroding margins while top line sales figures remain strong.

Myer's October acquisition of Just Group, operator of Just Jeans, Jay Jays, and Dotti, suggests Myer or David Jones might even have an appetite for Wittner itself, added Mortimer.

"The business may be quite viable in relation to a buyer" if it closes its standalone physical locations, and reverts to an e-commerce and concession model, he said.

Wittner's administration is one of several major Australian retailers to call in the administrators in recent months, owing to cost-of-living pressures and the emergence of new, low-cost online shopping options.

Denim retailer Jeanswest entered administration last month, months after Mosaic Brands, the corporate owner of Rivers, Millers, Rockmans, Noni B, and Katies, entered voluntary administration.

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