The future of the Brett Blundy’s Diva brand is in question, with the lionshare of Diva stores either closing, or converting to its sister brand, Lovisa. Inside Retail PREMIUM exclusively reported in January that Diva had quietly made significant redundancies at its Sydney head office, letting go of a large number of corporate staff. While Brett Blundy, owner of Diva under his BB Retail Capital Group (BBRC), and Diva staff declined to comment, it seems the staff cuts in January may have
signalled the beginning of the end for the brand Blundy once called his favourite.
Inside Retail PREMIUM is unable to confirm how many Diva stores have closed and how many remain in Australia.
The Diva website has also been shut down, while the official Facebook account has not been updated since January 10.
It is understood many of the leases have been transferred to stablemate, Lovisa, with calls made by Inside Retail to Diva stores either no longer connecting, or being answered as Lovisa.
It also appears that Diva stores in South Africa, New Zealand, Singapore, and Malaysia have been converted to the Lovisa brand.
Lovisa was founded in 2010 by BBRC, targeting a slightly older demographic than Diva, offering fast fashion jewellery lines and accessories.
Lovisa has 160 stores in Australia, and with the apparent transfer of Diva’s international locations to Lovisa, now has 10 stores in South Africa, 13 in New Zealand, 10 in Singapore, and three in Malaysia.
Diva was founded by Mark and Colette Hayman, owners of the Colette jewellery and accessories chain, in 2002, before it was sold to BBRC in 2005 for an undisclosed sum.
The Haymans opened the first Colette store after the Diva non compete clause ended in 2010, with Lovisa launching shortly after, offering a similar product range and targeting the same demographic.
Despite the launch of Lovisa, in a 2010 interview with Inside Retail, Blundy said the most exciting brand in the BBRC stable was Diva.
“Diva is the real story. We’re really paying attention to Diva in the world market,” Blundy said.
At the time, Diva had 130 stores in Russia and three in the US, with 10 more planned.
“Diva is where the action is for BBRC, but it doesn’t look that way in Australia because we’ve got 200 stores – we’re done and we’re everywhere, but the business is improving all the time,” he said in 2010.
Under BBRC Diva expanded to 500 stores in 20 countries, including Russia, South Africa, China, Poland, Singapore and Malaysia.
In early 2013 Blundy relocated to Singapore to focus on expanding his stable of brands, which include Dusk, Honey Birdette, Adairs, Pie Face, and Bras N Things in the Asian market.
Diva management were unavailable for comment when contacted by Inside Retail PREMIUM, as was Blundy’s Singapore office.
