Darrel Lea faces a rocky road.

[nww]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/da...o-administration/story-e6frf7jo-1226422451073
or
http://www.smh.com.au/business/darrell-lea-up-for-sale-with-700-jobs-at-risk-20120710-21str.html

Economy must be bad if they cant even sell chocolate.
Thought it strange a few weeks ago my local Westfield Darrel Lea had
closed up and left.

 

[Rob Williams]

Noooooooooooo!!! I'm going to stock up on Dark Chocolate Rocklea Road to help the ailing company.

 

[twobobsworth]

Economy must be bad if they cant even sell chocolate.

Not really. High profile locations would be a killer and nothing special about their products. Not to mention run by a bickering family.

 

[Ausprop]

discretionary retail sales for this sort of product are rocketing. If you can't make this sort of business work in this economy then you could never make it work - time to lay the company to rest or hand the keys to someone more skilled. this is the process that keeps the economy efficient.

 

[pennyk]

it is a voluntary administration, and they are apparently continuing to put money in to keep the company going....... so its not that they are totally broke. Hopefully it will be able to be sold as a going concern.
Otherwise I'm going to need to stock up on Liquorice.....

 

[Melbournian]

with diabetes increasing in australia and a push in awareness to decrease sugar and salt intake - it is a pretty tough industry to be in.

 

[Success]

Complete lack of innovation here ... walking into their stores takes me back to the 80's.

 

[w0nnie]

yeap, lack of innovation is the issue, walk into lindt or max brenners at lunchtime or in the evenings and you can be lucky to get a table.

 

[pennyk]

Complete lack of innovation here ... walking into their stores takes me back to the 80's.

thats the whole idea though, isnt it?
its like a step back in time to the simpler days when you bought a white paper bag of mixed lollies for 10c. (OK, so maybe a bit before the 80's!)

 

[cu@thetop]

Revenue was peanuts. The financial situation brittle.

 

[Dazz]

Frankly, the whole industry leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

 

[boomtown]

In a sticky situation, management had a meltdown, made a ganache of it and it all just turned to custard.

 

[chindonly]

Complete lack of innovation here ... walking into their stores takes me back to the 80's.

Agree - they really haven't changed with the times, and seem to have an even more limited range, and relatively expensive prices.

 

[Ausprop]

hopefully management gets their just desserts! the whole product range is sickening. And no doubt the administrators will be in there now like a kid in a candy store.

 

[Deltaberry]

Not the only industry faltering as mentioned/predicted many times in the past 24 months.

 

[pennyk]

In a sticky situation, management had a meltdown, made a ganache of it and it all just turned to custard.

classic!! Kudos to you and the others who have posted similar, but I liked yours the best.

Now, we wait for Geoff to retaliate with an award winning comeback........

 

[Ausprop]

Not the only industry faltering as mentioned/predicted many times in the past 24 months.

who predicted what? EOD poor workmen blame their tools. This industry is booming so you have to be completely hopeless to go broke in this situation. From this thread it seems the owners are feuding and the stores and product range is dated. I too was nostalgic about the phasing out of Paul's Billabong, then I thought realistically i haven't bought one for 30 years so I can't lament too much

 

[BayView]

with diabetes increasing in australia and a push in awareness to decrease sugar and salt intake - it is a pretty tough industry to be in.

I don't think that has much to do with it.

For example; KFC (Kid Fattening Centre) and Maccas are doing just fine globally...plenty of beached whales wander in and out of their doors each day from what I see.

Also; look at how many kids/teenagers are wandering around with a cigarette in their hand...

You could even add stuff like the TAC initiatives for curbing the road toll/drunk/stoned driving etc.

The messages are not being paid attention to.

I'd say DL is more to do with the cost of their product, and possibly internal admin and management issues, maybe financial mismanagement thrown in as well.

 

[weg]

Possibly a case of people reviewing their options and buying similar items that are cheaper elsewhere (supermarket choccies and sweets seem to be heavily reduced all the time now), and the company lacking the aggressive/competitive edge and the brand becoming 'stale' - or a combination of a few things that you can't afford in times when money isn't being thrown around.

There are certainly a few smarties on this thread .

 

[Melbournian]

I don't think that has much to do with it.

For example; KFC (Kid Fattening Centre) and Maccas are doing just fine globally...plenty of beached whales wander in and out of their doors each day from what I see.

Also; look at how many kids/teenagers are wandering around with a cigarette in their hand...

You could even add stuff like the TAC initiatives for curbing the road toll/drunk/stoned driving etc.

The messages are not being paid attention to.

I'd say DL is more to do with the cost of their product, and possibly internal admin and management issues, maybe financial mismanagement thrown in as well.

Maybe so but Maccas and KFC - sell meals as oppose to chocolates being not a meal and more to a snack

Damn - was looking at that sesame crispy KFC chicken on TV - haven't had KFC in years but tempted to have some soon.