The owner of a suburban supermarket closed his business just days before Christmas because he was unable to restock its shelves after struggling to pay a supplier $400,000.

The company behind the IGA at Werrington, near Penrith in western sydney/index.html” id=”mol-598fdcb0-c18b-11ef-999b-d7e404b4e80f”>Sydney, went into liquidation on Christmas Eve – just as new owners took over.

The supermarket, that also had a liquor licence, had been financially struggling when shoppers would traditionally have been flocking there to buy a festive turkey and the trimmings of a Christmas lunch.

Miller Tate Families Pty Ltd owned the Supa IGA in the Werrington County Shopping Village.

But this company, established in 2020, is now being wound up, leaving 20 staff in limbo just before Christmas.

Liquidator Steven Kugel, a founding partner of The insolvency Experts, said the company behind that suburban IGA-owned 50 creditors more than $500,000 but $400,000 of that was owed to one supplier.

Kevin Tate, the 60-year-old sole director and shareholder of Miller Tate Families Pty Ltd, had mortgaged his home to run the business, and voluntarily appointed The Insolvency Experts to handle the liquidation after being unable to secure supplies needed to stock the shelves.

‘There’s no viable business because he can’t get his…