Furious employees have opened the lid on what it was like at Sneakerboy in the last few months before the cult-luxury shoe company went under.
Customers had been bombarding the chain with negative reviews for weeks, with the company flogged for failing to fulfill thousands of shoe orders.
And on Tuesday, an administrator was appointed for Sneakerboy and two other companies that used the Sneakerboy name to recoup what it could after it went into administration on Saturday.
On Wednesday, the website and the website of the parent company Luxury Retail Group went black.
Now a whistleblower has told the Daily Mail Australia that Sneakerboy staff are outraged at the fallout, claiming some are owed more than six months’ wages.
The anonymous employee said staff had tried to get hold of the owners but had “no response.”
‘Some employees can’t pay the rent or do their shopping. This has been going on for more than six months,” he said.
“Several complaints have been filed and are still ongoing with Fairwork.”
The Fair Work Commission confirmed it had “ongoing investigations” into Sneakerboy and urged all workers with “concerns about their pay or rights” to contact the commission directly.
Well-known businessmen Nelson Mair and Theo Poulakis each own half of Sneakerboy through holding companies, according to regulatory filings.
Well-known businessmen Nelson Mair and Theo Poulakis each own half of Sneakerboy through holding companies, according to regulatory filings
Customers have been bombarding the chain with negative reviews for weeks, thrashing the company for failing to fulfill thousands of shoe orders (pictured, a Sneakerboy customer)
Despite the Sneakerboy flagship store in Sydney being listed as open online, it appears to have been closed for quite some time
Luxury Retail Group is similarly divided between Mr. Poulakis and Mr. Mair, through four entities.
Mr Poulakis is the brother of John Poulakis, the multimillionaire founder of the luxury fashion house Harrolds.
John narrowly avoided conviction when he pleaded guilty to trying to smother his elderly mother with a pillow and vandalize his parents’ home in 2018.
Mr Mair and Sneakerboy have been contacted for comment.
A statement on the Sneakerboy website claims that the administrators will deal with customers waiting for their orders.
‘Sneakerboy is in Administration. All orders from July 2, 2022 will be fulfilled by the Administrators in the future,” it read.
“All orders prior to July 2, 2022, please contact Hamilton Murphy at (03) 8866 7600.”
On Saturday, the Australian Securities and Investments (ASIC) released a statement stating that Hamilton Murphy Advisory’s Stephen Dixon would be the manager for Sneakerboy Pty Ltd and the two related companies that use the Sneakerboy name.
Dixon was also appointed as an administrator for Luxury Retail Treasury Pty Ltd and Luxury Retail Group Pty Ltd, the parent company of Sneakerboy.
High-end sneaker retailer has seen its Google review rating drop as angry customers demand refunds
Popular among sneaker fans, Sneakerboy sells high-quality footwear including Balenciaga shoes valued at over $1500
Sneakerboy launched a surprise online warehouse sale earlier in June, offering discounts of more than 70 percent on some items. It is also currently having an online sale with huge discounts through its website
A creditors’ meeting is now scheduled for Wednesday, July 13.
A statement from the trustees read: “As a trustee of the Sneakerboy Group of Companies, Hamilton Murphy Advisory is aware that a number of clients have pre-purchased stock prior to Sneakerboy entering administration on July 2, 2022.
“As part of the administration process, Hamilton Murphy Advisory is urgently evaluating Sneakerboy’s inventory and inventory levels and consolidating that information for customers and creditors.
Once all this information has been collected, the administrator will contact all customers within a week to discuss their customer orders.
“We are urgently speeding up this part of the administration process because we understand that some customers have concerns. We continue to receive numerous expressions of interest from parties interested in acquiring the business and assets of Sneakerboy as a going concern.”
Popular among sneaker fans, the Melbourne-based store sells high-quality footwear, including Balenciaga shoes valued at over $1500.
It also sells clothing from designer brands, including Alexander McQueen and Moncler.
Despite being listed as open online, the company’s flagship store in Sydney is closed.
It is unclear when it last opened its doors.
Sneakerboy launched a surprise online warehouse sale earlier in June, offering discounts of more than 70 percent on some items.
It is also currently running an online sale with huge discounts through its website.
However, the news about the administration will cause anger among customers, who are already struggling to get the sneakers they ordered.
The company’s Google review score has now dropped to 1.6 stars, with outraged customers leaving scathing reviews.
One said: ‘Bought sneakers five months ago. Still have not received or refunded the shoes.
Another said the store had disabled comments on their Instagram after the collapse.
“Customer Service, I see you are reading your reviews and would you like to respond to my emails?”
A third said: ‘I wish I’d read the reviews before buying anything from Sneakerboy online. I have never seen such bad customer service.
Placed an order six weeks ago and received no information. I have tried several times to contact them and have not received any correspondence.
‘I only seem to get responses through my reviews. I’m going to cancel all my orders and get my money back.”
While a fourth said: ‘I bought a pair of Balenciaga speed trainers in November and still haven’t received them.
“They finally emailed me after 6 months of trying to get in touch and said the order would arrive at their warehouse on April 1st. Still nothing. No answer.’
The Sydney store was abandoned despite no official announcement of the closure by the company
In early April, Sneakerboy closed its Brisbane store and removed the listing from its website. It currently has three stores in Victoria
The news about the administration will cause anger among customers, who are already struggling to get the sneakers they ordered
Sneakerboy responded with the same statement to some of the reviews it received on Google.
‘Thank you for taking the time to leave us a review. We can assure you that we are and will remain operational and we are working to get orders to customers quickly during these busy sales periods.
“Please contact our support team at help@sneakerboy.com and we will try to give you more information about your order as a matter of priority.”
In early April, Sneakerboy closed its Brisbane store and removed the listing from its website.
Financing company Banjo Loans filed liquidation orders against two companies in the group in June.
In total, the number of bankruptcy filings against companies in the group stands at more than 10 in the past three years.
The Luxury Retail Group is also facing a $1.2 million claim from the Australian tax office for unpaid pensions and taxes, as well as a $148,000 claim from Adidas.
Last year, Sneakerboy pledged to review payroll data for all current and former employees.
Sneakerboy chief Nelson Mair emailed staff in March 2021 saying that while he didn’t believe the company owed its staff unpaid super good, he had ordered a thorough salary review.
“I take this matter seriously as our employees, past and present, remain our strongest asset and point of difference in this competitive market,” he said in an email to staff, according to the Herald Sun†
“We have been working methodically after the COVID period to ensure all of our compliance is up to date. As a result, we have worked closely with the ATO to ensure that our calculations and processes are correct. It is my understanding that we have paid the appropriate fees to our employees.
“Nevertheless, given the feedback we’ve received, we’ve started reviewing every file of current and former team members.”
The Herald Sun was previously contacted by a number of former employees who say they are super indebted.
The employees showed payslips and data from their retirement accounts to substantiate their claims.
An employee, who asked not to be named, sent a December 2019 email in which Sneakerboy acknowledged that it had failed to pay his superior and promised to rectify the outstanding amount by January 2020.
The employee said last March that the super had still not been paid.
“I don’t trust the company at all,” he said.
“When I resigned I said that super was not paid several times and they promised that it would be solved right after the layoff. There were many follow ups and nothing was ever resolved.’