At their April Council meeting in 1992, Warrnambool City Council agreed to buy the Pleasant Hill site for $750,000 and lease it back to FJs in a bid to secure the long term future of the company in the city. The lease agreement was for an initial three-year period involving a 9% annual return to the council or $67,500 and with an option for further leases.
As part of the deal the council took control of the gardens and picked up the costs of maintaining them, although they also sought volunteers to help with the upkeep to save costs.
"The following month (May 1992), it was revealed that the company had lost millions in the previous 20 months. The shortfall was part of a $32million loss in the past three years. In June, nine of FJs 44 retail outlets were closed and in December 1992, a Channel 9 business program revealed the company's liabilities exceeded assets by $15million. Fletcher Jones' search this year for equity partners to boost the ailing company was over and nothing but a full sale would save it, the program said. Stafford Ellinson and Pelaco were confirmed as the two prospective buyers, reported to be "positioning for a bargain." Some staff have left Fletcher Jones over recent weeks as uncertainty over the company's future escalated." Warrnambool Standard, Saturday December 19,1992.
