Compiled by Patrick Avenell

Coverage of Retravision Southern’s troubles dominated the most read stories on Current.com.au during May 2012. Although there was interest in the collapse of Game retail stores, the relaunching of WOW! Sight & Sound and the Design Award finalists, none of these stories could break Retravision’s Beatles-esque hold on the Top 5.

Here are Current.com.au’s five biggest stories for May 2012:

1. Retravision Southern holding emergency meetings as suppliers go unpaid

The first story in our extensive coverage of the Retravision Southern administration exclusively revealed that members were converging on Melbourne to discuss head office affairs. Included in this article was the revelation that a serious cash flow deficiency that had resulted in suppliers not being paid for stock.

2. Retravision WA and Northern placed 'on hold' by major suppliers

The repercussions from Retravision Southern’s voluntary administration are now being felt across the ‘business as usual’ WA and Northern groups, with several major suppliers placing the two groups on hold.

3. 'We're all struggling' claims Retravision member on way to crisis meeting

“We’re in a recession” — that’s the message from Peter Anderson, proprietor of Andersons Electrical, a member of the Retravision Southern group in rural Victoria.

4. 'Sad old story' reveals the slow demise of Eastern Retravision stores

When Retravision Southern confirmed it was entering voluntary administration last week, it sounded the death knell for another facet of the retail industry in Australia. While it certainly won’t mean the end of Retravision’s presence in Australia, there are plenty of individual retailers at the local level that will no longer be financially viable and will be forced to shut their doors.

5. Insurance drain forces Retravision to move to individual store accounting

In a major change to its business model, Retravision WA and Retravision Northern will soon move from central billing to individual store accounts. This structural change decided in response to several insurance companies drastically reducing the amount of coverage it will extend to the two groups after the collapse of Retravision Southern last week.

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And here are the Top Five non-Retravision stories for May 2012:

1. WOW Sight & Sound to relaunch with new 'Bronze Presidential' owners

Following the collapse of the Queensland-based retailer WOW Sight & Sound earlier in the year, Current.com.au can now reveal that the brand has been bought and will be relaunched as a pure play online e-commerce site at the start of next month.

2. Miele and Breville in front as appliances and electronics dominate Design Awards

The appliance and consumer electronics industry is once again well-represented in the list of finalists for the Australian International Design Awards. In the Consumer category, leading brands such as Breville, Dyson, Samsung, Nespresso and Gaggenau are finalists, while there is also a nomination for Kleenmaid.

3. The GAME fallout – Where do customers stand?

Following the news that Game Australia has gone into voluntary administration, many consumers have been left asking questions about what will happen to their personal investment with the retailer.

4. Five reasons Spotify is better than Rdio, and a prepared statement

Spotify launched in Australia today, with Facebook account holders able to stream music on their desktop or mobile device from a catalogue of “more than 16 million songs”, according to the release.

5. From $17,000 to $1,000: A Decade Of Plasma

The average cost of a plasma TV in 2003 was $10,156. Back then, plasma TVs ranked fifth on the list of Top Digital Product Categories by value. Today, plasma TVs is number four on that list, though the average sales price has dropped 90 per cent to $1,030.