The new owners of rescued activewear brand Stax will relaunch the company with a fresh collection and credit thousands of customers still waiting on $1.7 million in unfulfilled orders.
Stax – which fell into liquidation in July before it was saved from collapse at the 11th hour by investors Justin Truong and Sandy Li-Truong – has appointed a new chief executive and will make a grand return with an online store early next month.
Stax new CEO Anna Cheng (right) pictured with the brand’s creative director Georgia Bachmann. STAX
The relaunch will honour outstanding credit for the 13,000 customers who never received orders after the Stax appointed receivers in June.
New chief executive Anna Cheng, a former marketing director, said her priority is earning back the loyalty of customers who were left behind when Stax collapsed.
“We’re focused on the principles that never go out of fashion: reliable delivery, high-quality product and empathetic customer support, and on building with community at the centre, not just volume,” Cheng said.
“For us, that means giving our customers something to be part of, not just something to buy.
“Our first job is proving that to our loyal Aussie customers: Stax is back, the product is better than ever and we’re operating the right way.”
Stax’s new management confirmed it would offer a one-for-one credit program for customers with unfulfilled orders.
Impacted customers will be able to use the credit balance after the new site launches next month, with balances expiring on June 30, 2027.
The new owners are not legally responsible for the thousands of unfulfilled orders.
However, Cheng said Stax would honour the orders as a “gesture of goodwill to the community”.
The new Stax team also comprises former head of product Georgia Bachmann, who will return to the brand as creative director, and lead designer Jaclyn Benson.
The new owners will launch a fresh collection as the brand relaunches in November. Stax
Stax will relaunch its first collection under the new management on November 5.
The collection, named Girls Gone Wild, will take inspiration from previous Stax products, including the brand’s patented fabric design.
After it collapsed into receivership, Stax paused orders and closed its two stores on Sydney’s Pitt Street and Liverpool Westfield.
Cheng said Stax will remain as an online-only store “for now”, but teased the possibility of reopening bricks-and-mortar stores down the road.
“Physical stores are not off the cards but we’ll only return when the timing is right,” she told nine.com.au.
“The ambition to scale comes after we’ve earned that trust.”
Stax owed over $1.7 million in outstanding orders before its collapse. Nicole Douglas
Luxury brand’s grim financial records revealed
Stax owed over $1.7 million in outstanding orders to almost 13,000 customers, financial records show.
The brand also owed more than $453,000 to staff before its collapse, including $63,556 in superannuation, $89,209 in annual leave and $128,683 in redundancy payments.
Another $6.2 million is owed to creditors, including with $500,000 owed to Google, $328,845 to Meta, and $1.9 million in unpaid fees to Ningbo Mingna Garments.
The owners were facing a $22.8 million cash shortfall and hadn’t turned a profit in four years before calling in the liquidators.
The liquidators’ report has revealed Stax was “balance sheet insolvent” as early as June 2024, and lost more than $9 million in FY24.