Best Markets, which is part of the multi-vendor gift card company Best Gift Group and the new owner of SurfStitch and Ginger & Smart, plans to relaunch the failed Australian apparel retailers following a restructure.

Last month, Best Markets purchased an entity called Alquemie Retail Operations, which included SurfStitch and Ginger & Smart, from Alquemie Group for a token amount. It then placed Alquemie Retail Operations into voluntary administration on June 6. 

“The decision follows a period of due diligence and transitional planning by Best Markets, which acquired the brands from Alquemie Group on 31 May 2025, with a view to revitalising them under new ownership,” a spokesperson for Best Markets told Inside Retail.

“Best Markets is working constructively with the administrators, with a view to proposing a Deed of Company Arrangement (DOCA) that offers a pathway to recapitalisation and continued trading under a restructured model.”

Edwin Narayan and Domenico Calabretta of Mackay Goodwin are leading the administration process. 

A spokesperson for the administrators declined to comment, citing the need to gather information and report to creditors. However, they confirmed that the administrators are not currently trading “any brands owned by the companies”. 

They told Inside Retail that the business, Alquemie Retail Operations, had ceased trading as the landlords had already taken possession of the sites before the administrators were appointed. 

The spokesperson for Best Markets said that Omnia Brands, the secured debt holder across the entities, had been notified of the voluntary administration. 

Omnia Brands is owned by ACTA Retail Management, which is owned by ACTA Capital Management, a boutique private-equity firm founded by Richard Facioni in 2021. 

This story will be updated as further information becomes available.