Rivals express most interest in Clive Peeters' locations

There appears to be plenty of interest from rival retailers in picking over the bones of Clive Peeters with two major rivals casting an eye over their fallen competitor’s 45-store network.

Gerry Harvey, executive chairman of Harvey Norman, told The Australian last week that he would be interested in buying several of Clive Peeters' more profitable stores, but not the entire company.

"They have so many loss-making shops that can't be turned around," Harvey told the newspaper.

JB Hi-Fi, whose Clive Anthony whitegoods chain competes with Clive Peeters, ruled out buying either the company or individual stores, but soon-to-retire chief executive Richard Uechtritz told The Australian that JB Hi-Fi “might be interested” in acquiring the leases over some of its store sites to convert to JB Hi-Fi outlets.

Uechtritz added that JB and other retailers stood to gain customers if Clive Peeters were to be wound up. "It's not a nice thing to happen to Clive Peeters staff . . . but that would free up something like $500 million of sales to be split among the rest of us," he said.

Rick Hart, who founded the West Australian chain under his own name 35 years ago before selling it to Clive Peeters in 2005, has declined to comment on whether he would consider buying back the WA arm.

Hart retired as a director of the company last year and has since announced plans to open a new kitchen appliance outlet.