Questions are being asked as to why the Sydney based Lifestyle Store was not placed into administration, when there is “overwhelming evidence” that the owners could not pay their bills, were taking tens of thousands in deposits and not ordering stock, some of those deposits are over 12 months old with management stringing customers out by blaming suppliers for a lack of supply.

Lifestyle Store director Vinod Christie David has gone to ground with claims that he has already fled overseas, as angry customers of both the Lifestyle Store and Theatre At Home which has been placed into administration hunt him down.

Also gone to ground is John Kranitis who has been described in the past as the Managing Director of the Lifestyle Store. Both Kranitis and Vinod David have been involved in failed businesses in the past including a previous Lifestyle Store that left organisations millions out of pocket.

ChannelNews understands that Vinod Christies home has been visited by customers who have lost tens of thousands in deposits.One customer who ChannelNews spoke to said that he had visited the house chasing a $100,000 deposit for goods.

“When asked how he got the address he said that a former employee who had not been paid supplied it”.

Vinod David and Kranti’s, also failed to attend a recent creditors meeting.

Investigations by ChannelNews reveal that there are multiple Lifestyle customers who paid over a million dollars in deposits who are now out of pocket with several people claiming that the business could have been trading while insolvent for over 12 months.

Questions are also being asked as to what has happened to the stock that was in the Lifestyle store with several suppliers to the AV and audio business claiming that the orders placed on them came from the Lifestyle Store “And not Theatre At Home”.

One Melbourne based supplier who is believed to be owed over $250,000 by the Lifestyle Store said ”We supplied the stock to the Lifestyle Store. We now believe that the stock has been removed and is being offered to retailers at a discount as part of a Theatre At Home settlement. The administrators need to step in and stop this”.

Danny Assagby who invested over $5M into the Theatre At Home admits that he took stock from the Lifestyle Store and placed it in a secure location. He told ChannelNews that some of that stock has been given to customers who could prove that they had placed a deposit with the business.
He also confirmed that he had offered stock to various retailers including Digital Cinema.

According to Paul Godfrey the CEO of Digital Cinema he chose not to buy any stock because of the questions looming over ownership of the stock being offered.

A notice on the door of the Lifestyle Store from Corporate and Commercial Real Estate Group Bawdens states that anyone entering the premises will be trespassing.

The action was taken because of “nonpayment of rent and outgoings” and breaches of essential terms of the lease”.

ChannelNews understands that there are arguments over the cost of returning the store to the state it was in before Lifestyle Store management commenced renovations.