Betts enters administration, plans closure of 20 shoe stores

Lindsay Bainbridge and Andrew Yeo of Pitcher Partners were appointed voluntary administrators of Betts Pty Ltd and eight related entities on 24 June 2026, due to declining consumer sentiment, rising operating and transport costs and falling foot traffic at underperforming shopping centres.

Betts traces its origins to a Perth bootmaker’s shop established in 1892 and has remained under family ownership for five generations. The company developed into a national footwear chain known particularly for women’s fashion and children’s school shoes.

The group relaunched the Betts brand in October 2025 as part of an effort to reposition the business and revive customer engagement, but the administration indicates those measures were insufficient to overcome continuing pressure on store economics.

The administrators plan to close 20 of the group’s 35 stores, leaving 15 locations trading alongside its e-commerce operation. The affected stores are expected to continue operating for approximately four to eight weeks while stock is sold, with some outlets scheduled to close sooner.

Seven stores will close in Western Australia, four each in New South Wales and Victoria, three in South Australia and one each in Queensland and the Northern Territory. The remaining network is expected to include major stores in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

The planned closures form part of an accelerated restructuring after several years of reducing the group’s bricks-and-mortar footprint in response to weaker shopping-centre traffic and the shift toward online retail. At its peak, Betts operated close to 220 stores across Australia.

The administrators intend to concentrate resources on profitable stores and online sales while assessing options for the business and its brands. The administrators said they would seek to transfer some affected workers into stores that remain open, where positions are available. They have not disclosed the group’s secured debt, total creditor claims, inventory value or expected returns to creditors. Their review will determine whether the streamlined business can be recapitalised, sold or continued through a deed of company arrangement.