All Pumpkin Patch stores and online are closed, but a buyer may be found for the brand. Photo / NZ Herald
All Pumpkin Patch stores and online are closed, but a buyer may be found for the brand. Photo / NZ Herald
Childrens' retailer Pumpkin Patch may be given a lifeline with reports it may be bought by Australian eCommerce business Catch Group.
The Australian Financial Review (AFR) is reporting that rich listers Gabby and Hezi Leibovich, the founders of Catch Group, have been looking at several collapsed clothing retailers including Marcsand David Lawrence, but have settled on Pumpkin Patch.
The article reported a deal may be imminent.
Pumpkin Patch went into receivership in October owing $76 million.
Receivers from the firm KordaMentha had tried to sell the business as a going concern but had no option to liquidate after it received no serious expressions of interest.
When the business went into administration last year, Australian online department store Kogan bought the brand and customer base for A$2.6 million ($2.84m).
Kogan relaunched the business as an online-only business later in the year and in the first two months that it was operating, the brand made A$6.5m in sales.
While Dick Smith had an almost 50 year legacy, Pumpkin Patch which was founded in 1990, also has a lot of brand loyalty and history and the purchase of its name and intellectual property was still an option.