Laura Ashley’s time running out

LAURA Ashley will shut shop in Australia by the end of the year if none of the three potential buyers for the troubled retailer submit a firm bid within the next four days.

KordaMentha Restructuring says it is in discussions with three parties interested in the clothing and home furnishing group, which entered administration on December 3, and has set a deadline of Monday for them to provide a firm offer.

“If there is no sale, all stores will be closed by the end of the month,” administrator Craig Shepard said yesterday.

The clothing and home furnishing group, operated under licence from the original Laura Ashley company in the UK, had 18 stores and 100 employees in Australia when it entered administration for a second time in less than three years. It has since closed its Brisbane store.

Mr Shepard cited challenging retail conditions, rising fixed costs and fierce online competition as factors in Laura Ashley’s woes, but said sales had risen more than 300 per cent in response to deep discounting.

“It has an incredibly loyal customer base which has responded magnificently in the last fortnight,” he said.

The retailer, famed for its pastels and prints, first fell into administration in January 2016 before being slimmed down and sold to a private buyer six months later.