Pets Paradise franchisees won’t be affected by the collapse of the pet store chain, it’s been confirmed, but the receivers say company-operated stores have been struggling for 18 months.
Pets Paradise was founded about 20 years ago by Melbourne-based entrepreneur Gary Diamond, who grew the concept from a single store to a national chain of 62 stores.
But the Bank of Melbourne, which is owed $11 million, has appointed Deloitte as receivers of the struggling chain, which is part of Diamond’s Paradise Retail Holdings group.
In addition to Pets Paradise, Paradise Retail Holdings operates national cafe chain Billy Baxter’s, Global Pet Products and Warner Bros’ Australian retail operations.