Pumpkin Patch collapse: 27 stores to close, 145 jobs to go

Twenty-seven stores are set to close in Australia and 145 people will lose their jobs following the collapse of childrenswear retailer Pumpkin Patch.

The stores will close by November 15. Another seven stores are set to close in Pumpkin Patch's home of New Zealand, with 57 people there to lose their jobs.

Receiver KordaMentha, working on behalf of Pumpkin Patch's bank ANZ, said "work is continuing to identify viable sale options for the business." Administrators McGrathNicol will hold its first creditors meeting on Monday.

Pumpkin Patch collapsed recently after complaining of a "highly competitive and challenging" apparel market, falling sales, a decline in its international wholesale business and northern hemisphere online business, and the rise of the New Zealand dollar against the Australian dollar.

Most of its sales were in Australia, and the 27 store closures will leave just a rump of stores for any prospective buyer. KordaMentha said 52 staff would be redeployed to these stores.

Retail consultant Brian Walker said Pumpkin Patch had expanded too quickly into expensive shopping centres, and its products had lost their spark.

"It didn't have anything particularly unique that couldn't be copied on a mass scale by the bigger volume players, such as Kmart," he said.

"Childrenswear as a category is fairly static, and discount department stores and bigger box retailers have really taken, in my view, Pumpkin Patch's business away."

After years of declining sales Pumpkin Patch had seen its market capitalisation dwindle to just $10.1 million from a valuation of $NZ231 million ($216 million) in 2013. Its second-biggest shareholder was Jan Cameron, the co-founder of NZ adventure-wear retailer Kathmandu.

Early last year Pumpkin Patch put itself up for sale.

But that sale did not proceed, and the company instead planned a four-year turnaround program, which includes store closures and focusing on online sales.

"The business remains significantly over-leveraged and capital constrained," it said last month.

The stores to close are:

• Belrose Clearance
• Bendigo
• Chatswood Chase
• Claremont
• Colonnades
• Docklands Clearance
• Dubbo
• Forest Hill Chase
• Frankston
• Indooroopilly
• Melton
• Mt Ommaney
• Nunawading Outlet
• Orange
• Rockingham
• Rundle Mall
• Shell Harbour NSW
• Shepparton
• Sunbury
• North Ryde
• Tuggerah
• Wagga Wagga
• Charlie & Me Booragoon
• Charlie & Me Carousel
• Charlie & Me Chatswood Chase
• Logan
• Northlakes