Pumpkin Patch brand to live on

The Pumpkin Patch brand has been bought by an Australian online retailer.

The receivers of the Pumpkin Patch group, Brendon Gibson and Neale Jackson from KordaMentha, sold the Pumpkin Patch brand and intellectual property assets to Catch Group.

‘‘We are pleased to have been able to successfully complete a transaction that will see the Pumpkin Patch brand resurrected online in both New Zealand and Australia,’’ Gibson said.

Catch chief executive Nati Harpaz said the purchase included product designs and innovations.

‘‘We will be relaunching this iconic brand with a wide variety of new and much-loved designs,’’ he said. ‘‘We also intend to invest in expanding product lines for mums, kids and babies.’’

Failing overseas stores, global competition, and poor online strategy were the main reasons leading to Pumpkin Patch’s demise.

The children’s clothing company went into liquidation on March 7 after going into voluntary administration in October.

A receivers’ report by Gibson and Jackson in December showed the group owed almost $60 million, chiefly to ANZ.

At its peak, Pumpkin Patch had 250 stores across New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, the United Kingdom and the United States.

However, expansion into the US and UK, which cost about $98m funded by debt, failed and the stores were closed in 2011.

By February 12 this year, all remaining Pumpkin Patch stores in New Zealand and Australia had closed.

The name and customer base of troubled electronics chain Dick Smith was bought in a similar move last year, by Australian online retailer Kogan, for $2.84m.