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Dennis Tay, the founder of Singapore's home-grown retailer Naiise, is filing for bankruptcy.

His decision comes after the closure of the retailer's last existing brick-and-mortar retail space at Jewel Changi, following an "extremely difficult two years" and the cessation of all operations on Apr. 14, 2021.

On Apr. 15, Tay announced his decision to liquidate the firm and cease all operations.

The Jewel Changi store was visited by debt collectors in a bid to extract payment for those for were owed money.

Borrowed money to keep Naiise afloat

In his Facebook post, Tay explained his current predicament of having borrowed money and signing personal guarantees for the loans in his bid to keep Naiise afloat during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the process of repaying creditors, he emptied out his personal savings.

He also said he had hoped that Naiise would be able to bounce back soon, but found himself "out of time and options".

Unable to pay his debts, Tay said he will be filing for personal bankruptcy.

His debts to creditors, vendors, banks and former employees range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars.

In his post, Tay claimed full responsibility for Naiise's downfall and apologised to his employees, creditors and vendors.

He also apologised for the "inconvenience and distress" he had caused and thanked the people who had made purchases at Naiise.

He wrote: "I thank the very many of you of have been with Naiise through thick and thin. I’ve valued our interactions and friendships, and I hope I’ve played as big a part in building your businesses as you have mine."

In an e-mail to Naiise's suppliers seen by The Straits Times, Tay indicated that all future communications should be directed to Deloitte and Touche that is handling the liquidation of Naiise.

The Naiise website is now defunct.

Top images by Naiise and courtesy of Dennis Tay/FB.