Administrators of Ziera have warned that all stores in Australia and New Zealand will likely close and hundreds staff will lose their jobs due to a lack of interest from buyers in the whole business.

Ziera has 22 stores in New Zealand and 23 stores in Australia, and employs around 250 staff, including part-time retail staff, across the two markets.

The announcement comes six weeks after the New Zealand shoe brand entered voluntary administration, saying the rising cost of rent of wages and falling sales in bricks-and-mortar stores had made it uneconomical to continue trading.

At the time, the administrators from McGrathNicol were hoping to find another footwear retailer to “take on the Ziera mantle and continue to supply its loyal market”.

But on Friday, Conor McElhinney, one of the administrators, said there had been no interest from buyers in the whole of the business, and that the administrators will now be entering a “closing down” sale phase.

“We continue to work with several parties who are looking at purchasing a slimmed-down version of the business,” he said.

The administrators said it was likely that all stores in Australia and New Zealand will close. Some staff have already been made redundant and more staff are expected to be laid off as stores close.

“We are incredibly grateful for the support of staff during this difficult time, with all of the team working hard to preserve the business,” McElhinney said.

As part of the closing down process, stores will start offering increased increased discounting, with new season styles being dispatched to stores daily.

The administrators said they hope to announce a sale of part of the business in the near future, which hopefully will secure the brand for retail and wholesale customers in the future.