Perth print franchise group Quick Colour Print is in liquidation, with the remains of the eight store group fronting a creditors meeting today.

Some stories are still trading, including the Geraldton and East Perth franchisees. Their owners Craig Freeman and Michael d’Arcy were remaining tightlipped about their future prospects, with neither wanting to make any public comment.

Quick Colour print managing director Tim Burke was unavailable for comment, but on his facebook page two days after the business went into liquidation he shared a photo which said ‘Depression, anxiety and panic attacks are not a sign of weakness, they are signs of having tried to remain strong for too long. Did you know that one in three of us go through this at some time in our lives.’

Quick Colour Print WA stores were located in Gosnells, Midland, Morley, North Perth, Osborne Park, Perth Esplanade Busport, with the two operating stores in East Perth and Geraldton

The chain was established 25 years ago, and had eight stores a year ago, however the past 12 months has seen several of them have closed their doors, with neighbours reporting that in some cases the owners had simply walked away.

Peter Cook, manager at Richard Noble and Company, which leased the Morley shop to Quick Colour Print, says the shop owner moved in less than a year ago to expand his business and ‘we were told about the shop shutting down only a few days ago’.

Cook says, “It was very quick, the liquidators told us that they had gone into administration and were repudiating the lease. I am not going to talk about how much money they owe us, but we had to hurry and put the property back on the market to recover some of our costs.”

According to the shop owner next door to Quick Colour Print store in Midland, which closed down in December, businesses started to go ‘down after the new franchise owners took over last year’.

The neighbor says that she was told that while some shops were being amalgamated to cut costs and increase profits, the Midland store did not receive any ‘support from the new  master franchise so Brett and Jaslyn Arnott – the owners of the store – had to walk away’.

A neighbouring shop owner says, “Brett came into our shop and told us that it was not worth sticking around accumulating more debt, so he and his wife have decided to move out of the print industry. He now works in a completely different industry.”

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