By Sarah Falson

GEELONG: The board of Retravision Vic-Tas has appointed a receiver/manager to Waurn Ponds Retravision in Geelong, after the retailer supplied misleading information to the head office.

“Following a review of the business operations by an independently appointed business advisory firm it was decided that this was the most appropriate course of action for all the stakeholders,” said Retravision Vic-Tas chief executive officer, Brian Kelly, in a statement today.

According to Kelly, inaccuracies were supplied to the Retravision Vic-Tas board and management by Waurn Ponds Retravision directors, Winston and Errol Grey, “during the application process".

Kelly turned down the invitation to comment further, but Current.com.au believes that Waurn Ponds Retravision failed to supply ample payment for stock to Retravision Vic-Tas, as promised when the initial agreement was signed.

A receiver was recently appointed to the Retravision NSW branch, as the company was some $17 million in arrears. Current.com.au believes that the rest of Retravision Pty Ltd will be extra vigilant in the coming years to deal with weak stores before they cause bigger problems for the company.

“It is in the best interests of Retravision and its stakeholders to deal with this situation promptly,” said Kelly today.

Both Winston and Errol Grey were unavailable today for comment.

However, Current.com.au spoke to rival store Harvey Norman Waurn Ponds’ floor manager, Kane Brown, who stated that an unnamed supplier common to both stores visited the Retravision Waurn Ponds site this morning to find it closed to the public.

“They were trying to compete on too many fronts, with too many products and not enough floor space,” said Brown of the Retravision Waurn Ponds shopfront, which is reportedly one-third of the size of its Harvey Norman neighbour.