Rescued Australian activewear brand Stax has announced it will issue more than $1.7 million in store credit to the nearly 13,000 customers who were left without orders when the company collapsed into receivership in June 2026. The move comes as new owners prepare to relaunch the brand under fresh leadership next month.

Stax was revived by a private investor group led by Sydney entrepreneurs Justin Truong and Sandy Li-Truong after its catastrophic fall, and the business is now gearing up to return as an online-only retailer.

The Credit Plan: What Stax Is Offering

The company confirmed it would roll out a one-for-one credit program for affected customers, meaning those whose orders never arrived will receive credit equivalent to the value of those missing purchases. Notification emails were sent to affected customers encouraging them to log in and check their credit balances.

Stax was clear it carries no legal obligation to honour these outstanding orders, describing the credit program as a voluntary "gesture of goodwill." Customers have until 30 June 2027 to redeem their credit.

There is one notable exception: buyers who used a third-party payment provider will not receive store credit, on the basis that those platforms may have already issued refunds directly.

New Leadership Sets the Tone

Incoming chief executive Anna Cheng signalled the company intends to operate with greater transparency than its predecessor.

"Our first job is proving that to our loyal Aussie customers: Stax is back, the product is better than ever, and we're operating the right way," Cheng said. "Under new management, we want to build in the open. When we get something wrong, we'll make it right. That's a non-negotiable."

Creative director Georgia Bachmann also spoke to the emotional weight of the relaunch, tying the brand's comeback to the theme of its debut collection.

"This collection is about stepping into unfamiliar territory and finding your way, which is exactly what Stax is doing right now," Bachmann said. "It felt like the only honest way to relaunch."

The New Collection and What Comes Next

Stax is scheduled to drop its first collection under new ownership on 6 November 2026. The range, called Girls Gone Wild, is already open for waitlist sign-ups, giving early access to customers ahead of the official launch date.

The brand was originally founded in Perth in 2015 by Matilda Murray and Don Robertson, growing into a well-known name in Australian activewear before its financial position deteriorated sharply. A liquidators report released in October showed the company was balance sheet insolvent to the tune of $8.9 million by June 2024, a figure that had blown out to $10.4 million by June 2026. A deficiency statement prepared in July calculated the total shortfall at a staggering $22.8 million, with staff and creditors among those left out of pocket by the collapse.

Rebuilding Trust With Australian Shoppers

The voluntary credit commitment is being positioned as the cornerstone of the brand's effort to rebuild goodwill with a customer base that was badly burned. While the new owners are under no legal compulsion to make customers whole, the decision to absorb the cost of the credit program signals an intent to distance the relaunched Stax from the failures of its previous management.

Australian consumers have grown increasingly wary of retail insolvencies, with high-profile financial losses affecting ordinary people across a range of sectors in recent years. For Stax, the credit program and the transparency pledge from its new CEO represent the clearest indication yet of the direction the brand intends to take as it steps back into the market.