Melbourne, Jan 17, 2026, 22:04 (AEDT)
- Fletcher Jones will close its remaining stores and online business by the end of January.
- Owner Matthew Gowty plans to sell the brand after the shutdown.
- The move follows Myer-owned Sass & Bide’s decision to close stores and pause online sales ahead of a relaunch.
Australian clothing label Fletcher Jones is shutting its remaining stores and online business, telling customers it is “closing down all stores and online” as it clears stock. The company is running a clearance sale offering 30% off and expects to complete the closure by the end of January. 1
Closing a name that dates back to the 1920s is another hit to a retail sector already losing long-established fashion brands. 9News reported the company’s current owner, Matthew Gowty, plans to sell the Fletcher Jones brand after the shutdown. 2
It comes a day after Myer-owned label Sass & Bide said it will close its stores and department-store concessions — branded shop-in-shops — at the end of January, and shut its online store at the end of February. “It’s not goodbye, it’s see you soon,” the brand said as it flagged a reinvention. 3
Fletcher Jones’ website currently lists three Victorian locations — Ashburton, a Collins Street store in Melbourne’s CBD, and a Williamstown North outlet — alongside its online shop. 4
Fletcher Jones started in Warrnambool, Victoria, in 1924 when David Fletcher Jones began selling textiles, and later opened stores in the 1930s and 1940s selling men’s suits and trousers. A purpose-built factory followed in 1947, and the company says its 1970s and 1980s “golden years” saw about 3,000 staff across manufacturing centres in Warrnambool and Mt Gambier; it was re-launched online and in stores in 2012. 5
The company’s modern slide traces back to its 2011 voluntary administration, an insolvency process where an external administrator takes control to try to restructure or sell the business. At the time, administrators said they would close 15 stores and cut 61 jobs, and administrator Bruno Secatore said it was important to act quickly to “shore up the viability” of the business. 6
Sass & Bide said 14 Myer concessions will trade until Jan. 26, with three standalone stores due to close on Jan. 31, while online sales will continue until the end of February. A Myer Group spokesperson described the move as a “unique opportunity to reinvent” the label, and said gift cards could be converted to Myer cards of the same value. 7
But the end result for Fletcher Jones is uncertain. Gowty’s plan to sell the brand could keep the name alive in some form, or it could go nowhere, leaving customers with just the clearance racks and an old label disappearing from shopfronts.
