AN iconic high street brand is set to close its doors forever in a matter of weeks.
Retailer Cath Kidston was bought by Next after falling into administration – but this did not include its shops.
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The brand is famed for its pretty floral designs and quirky vintage-style homewares.
Retail giant Next bought the brand name, domain names and intellectual property earlier this year for £8.5 million.
The four remaining standalone stores continued to trade alongside the website – but are now set to close by June 30, the Sun can confirm.
Shoppers have spotted huge closing down sales in stores with as much as 70% off.
Discounts when shops are shutting usually ramp up the closer they get to closing their doors.
The location affected are:
- Piccadilly, London
- Ashford, Kent
- Cheshire Oaks, Ellesmere Port
- York Outlet, York
There are also two concession stores in Colne and Sheffield that have already closed.
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It comes after the Cath Kidston website was replaced this week.
Customers navigating to cathkidston.com are now redirected to the Next website where shoppers can pick up its products which range from clothing to homeware.
Previously the brand’s website had a closing down sale with big discounts.
Cath Kidston items for sale online are full price, and also include baby clothes and beauty.
The brand was set up by designer Cath Kidston in 1993 and had more than 200 outlets around the world at its peak.
The brand, e-commerce and wholesale parts of the businesses were bought from administrators by Baring Private Equity Asia in 2020, before Hilco snapped it up earlier last year.
After initially being privately owned, Cath Kidston was sold to a private equity firm in 2010 in a deal reported to be worth £100million at the time.
The brand, e-commerce and wholesale parts of the businesses were bought from administrators by Baring Private Equity Asia in 2020, before Hilco snapped it up earlier this year.
Next has been known to save failing companies from administration.
Other brands rescued by the company include furniture store Made.com, Gap clothing, Victoria’s Secret and maternity clothing retailer JoJo Maman Bebe.
This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk
