Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Job losses as clothing shop closes doors

By John Maslin
Whanganui Chronicle·
31 Oct, 2016 06:11 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Pumpkin Patch in Victoria Ave is closing next week with the parent company in receivership. Photo/Bevan Conley.

Pumpkin Patch in Victoria Ave is closing next week with the parent company in receivership. Photo/Bevan Conley.

Whanganui's Pumpkin Patch store will close its doors next Tuesday meaning job losses for the five staff employed there.

The Victoria Ave store is one of seven being shut immediately across the country in the wake of the children's clothing retailer going into receivership.

The company said closing those stores would mean a total of 57 staff would lose their jobs including five employed in Whanganui.

Brendon Gibson of the receivers KordaMentha, said the closure of some stores was being accelerated to keep the retailer operating as they hunt for a buyer.

Pumpkin Patch employs 600 in New Zealand and 1000 in Australia. The Australian operation was still under review and no closures had been confirmed there.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

KordaMentha was named receivers by company's lender - ANZ Bank New Zealand - last week after Pumpkin Patch failed to convince the bank to let it keep trading, and immediately signalled store closures and job losses were likely.

Yesterday Mr Gibson said as well as the Whanganui outlet other stores would close in Ponsonby, Takapuna, Henderson, Te Rapa, Hornby and a Charlie's & Me site at Coastlands.

"Unfortunately, having now had time to assess these stores' financial viability, it is necessary to close them in an effort to stabilise the broader business" Mr Gibson said in a statement.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

He said staff had been told they were losing their jobs but would be paid all their entitlements to a maximum of $22,160 (gross) per employee. They have also been given access to EAP (employee assistance programme) support services.

Pumpkin Patch's debt to ANZ Bank rose to $46 million from $39.1 million in the year to the end of July 2016. It posted a loss of $15.5 million in the same period.

Last year the retailer turned away a number of parties interested in buying the business, saying at the time that the offers weren't compelling enough for the board to consider seriously. Instead, it tried to lift its trading performance in a four-year turnaround programme, which it claimed was starting to show improvements.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

Seabed mining project sparks alarm over impact on South Taranaki fisheries

07 Jul 03:57 AM
Whanganui Chronicle

Multiple purchase offers for pilot academy

07 Jul 03:39 AM
Whanganui Chronicle

Police seek sightings of car linked to missing person

06 Jul 11:50 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Seabed mining project sparks alarm over impact on South Taranaki fisheries

Seabed mining project sparks alarm over impact on South Taranaki fisheries

07 Jul 03:57 AM

Jamie Newell fears silt pollution will damage precious reef ecosystems.

Multiple purchase offers for pilot academy

Multiple purchase offers for pilot academy

07 Jul 03:39 AM
Police seek sightings of car linked to missing person

Police seek sightings of car linked to missing person

06 Jul 11:50 PM
How a spray painter is mastering conflict resolution with NZ Army

How a spray painter is mastering conflict resolution with NZ Army

06 Jul 05:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP