Health and beauty retailer Pricewise has collapsed again, this time its demise due to Covid-19-related issues. It follows the retailer’s rescue from receivership by Polar Captial in 2020. 

The owners have appointed Kenneth Brown and Paul Manning​ of BDO in Tauranga as liquidators. Despite efforts to save the discount personal care chain, the company was unable to survive the impacts of the pandemic, struggling to generate profit and maintain cash flow, according to Brown. 

All Pricewise retail stores, except one in Nelson, were shut down recently with staff being laid off and paid out. Brown said the Nelson store will remain open while stock and the remaining assets are sold off. 

Supply chain issues – in which the importing process has been prolonged from around six weeks to between 14 and 18 weeks – contributed to the liquidation, Brett Tucker, chief operating officer of Polar Capital, told the National Business Review. 

Pricewise was founded by Andrew and Gillian Berryman and had opened 18 stores since its inception in 2009. The company was bought by Polar Capital for $2.32 million after going into receivership in 2020. At that time, the chain turned over around $12 million annually, had seven stores in Auckland, five elsewhere in the North Island and four in the South Island.