Region. Clive Peeters to close stores

The struggling retailer Clive Peeters, which has five stores and its NSW warehouse in Western Sydney, has gone into voluntary administration with a debt of $160 million. The company will close stores and probably shed several hundred of its 1300 staff in an attempt to keep the 45-store, $500 million-a-year household goods chain trading in some form. The company also has stores in Queensland, Tasmania, Melbourne and regional Victoria. McGrathNichol has been appointed as administrator.