administrators for Whitcoulls will try to find a buyer for it as a going concern

While Borders is clearly toast, the nation-wide variety store nature of Whitcoulls offers a glimmer of hope that it might be able to be sold as a going concern.  The problem, of course, is that the potential buyers are pretty much limited to its main competitors, The Warehouse and Paper Plus - and the latter's totally franchised nature means its fundraising ability from members is quite limited.

extracted from the TV3 website:-

Yesterday the National Distribution Union (NDU) met with the administrators for REDgroup, Ferrier Hodgson, who have taken over its businesses in New Zealand, Australia and Singapore. NDU general secretary Robert Reid said the administrators outlined the chain of events leading up to, and following, their appointment last Thursday.

"They told us their statutory goal is to achieve the maximum return for all creditors and to save jobs where possible." Mr Reid said union representatives had been invited to attend a creditors' meeting next Monday.

Another creditors' meeting had to be held within 25 days, at which the administrators would give an indication of the options being considered.

"In the meantime, they have to ascertain what the best way forward is and, in the hierarchy of options, probably a sale process is what they are working on," he said.

The administrators had to work for the interests of the creditors, and not the original company, Mr Reid said.  It was essentially business as usual for employees until the second creditors' meeting.