Five stores from the Bali chain Hardy’s have closed after the owner Gede Hardi declared bankruptcy in November and sold over the Hardy’s brand to PT Arta Sedana Retailindo, with the handover in December.
Hardy’s is a chain of stores, mainly budget supermarkets, hardware and affordable clothing shops.
While the Hardy’s in Sanur is reportedly still operating as usual, the Association of Indonesian Retailers (Aprindo) confirmed on Thursday that five out of the nine Hardy’s outlets acquired by PT Arta Sedana Retailindo are closing.
Bali Aprindo Chairman Gusti Ketut Sumardayasa says the closure has nothing to do with Bali’s economic conditions—which he insists are still strong—but is a result of complicated internal management issues.
In addition to dismissing claims that the Hardy’s shops are shutting down because of Bali’s current economic conditions, the chairman also rejected the notion that the shops were closed because of competition from online shopping.
Economic growth in Bali, according to Sumardayasa, was 6.01 percent, above the national economic growth of 5.06 percent in the third quarter of 2017.
“In addition, the consumption of the community is quite good, although it has experienced a decline at the end of the year due to the influence of the Mount Agung eruptions, which affects the income of the community, which is predominantly supported by the tourism sector,” Sumardayasa said on Thursday, as quoted by Tempo.
Issues with Hardy’s actually began to present themselves in mid-2016, long before Mount Agung stirred back to life this past September, says the Aprindo chairman, both in terms of comprehensiveness of stock and also problems with suppliers and banks.
“It seems that these problems can not be solved by the new management,” he added.
However, that’s not to say that the closure of these Hardy’s outlets will have no impact on the local economy.
Hundreds of workers will be laid off while suppliers working with the chain will lose a significant chunk of business.
“This must be addressed seriously, both in handling and anticipating the effects caused,” Sumadyasa said.
Aprindo says the government should get involved to help intervene and coordinate what can be done to prevent any domino effects.
“If deemed necessary, a Focus Discussion Group (FGD) can be created to address this issue and reduce the panic amongst Balinese retailers over this incident,” added Aprindo secretary, I Made Abdi Negara.
