The IP Survives, The Customers Don't: Inside Stax's Rescue

<p>Mal&#39;s calling in from a Bali sunrise mid-reset before Q4 hits — squirrels, banana trees, the lot — while Alex is back in Adelaide mopping up after cars got swept down a creek in the weekend&#39;s flash floods. The news doesn&#39;t take a holiday though, and this week&#39;s two deep dives bookend the AU retail distress cycle from both ends: Proud Poppy filed for voluntary administration one week ago, still insisting it&#39;s &quot;business as usual,&quot; while Stax — which collapsed back in June — has just been bought out of receivership by the Pushas founders in an IP-only deal that leaves every pre-collapse customer order unfulfilled and unpaid.</p><ul><li>The RBA held the cash rate at 4.35% for the third time this year, and Mal reckons there&#39;s still another hike in it before Christmas.</li><li>Frasers&#39; hostile bid for Accent Group got messier, with a board resignation landing in the middle of an active ASIC insider trading probe.</li><li>Playboy&#39;s Q2 results confirmed Honey Birdette is the standout of the portfolio — comps up 15%, gross margin up to 65.1%, and US stores hitting $1,500 a square foot.</li><li>Proud Poppy entered voluntary administration one week ago, and the hosts flag the now-familiar pattern of over-expanded store footprints catching up with founders.</li><li>Stax has been rescued out of receivership by the Pushas founders — but only the IP, not the liabilities or the unfulfilled orders.</li><li>Brett Blundy&#39;s Lovisa tried to trademark rival brand HARLI + HARPA in the US to block its expansion — and lost.</li></ul>