Pie Face went bust last month with 20 of its stores closed after a week. The collapse came after Pie Face quietly closed six of its seven stores in New York City earlier in the year. At the time of entering administration, there were 70 Pie Face stores in Australia with 43 of them franchised. The 11-year-old business, founded by former Wall Street banker Wayne Homschek and interior designer Betty Fong, has stores around Australia and in the US and Singapore and openings were planned for the Middle East, Japan, Korea and the Philippines. While the causes of Pie Face’s troubles have still not been identified there is speculation aggressive expansion is to blame.
Australian food franchise Pie Face has collapsed into voluntary administration.
In a statement released to SmartCompany, the Pie Face Group confirmed Jirsch Sutherland has been appointed as administrators. However, Pie Face said it is “business as usual” as the administrators conduct a review of the chain’s operations.
“The move comes as part of a wider company review, which will see the company focus on supporting the growth of its franchise-operated stores as well as the wholesale business,” Pie Face said. “The international businesses are not affected”.