Pumpkin Patch closes after sales pitch fails
"In the past workers have agreed to forgo wage increases to help the company and in return they could be shortchanged." First Union organiser Lisa Meto Fox
Pumpkin Patch will close after receivers failed to find a buyer for the children’s clothing chain.
All stores will remain open until at least the end of December, but an immediate head office restructure would mean 63 jobs lost this week, receiver Brendon Gibson from KordaMentha said.
The company had about 1300 staff and 130 stores across Australia and New Zealand.
From this weekend, all stock will go on sale.
Vouchers will be honoured, but only while the current stock is being sold, Gibson said.
‘‘Our focus since Pumpkin Patch entered receivership in October was to sell the business as a going concern. Unfortunately, while the brand is attractive, the business itself ultimately drew no interest at the conclusion of the sale process.
‘‘We now move to the next phase of receivership which is to sell off all stock and begin to wind down the business.
‘‘This decision has not been made lightly and we acknowledge it will come as a blow to staff.
‘‘Regrettably, we have had to advise a number of staff at head office that their jobs will be going,’’ Gibson said. ‘‘They have been given access to [employee] support services and will receive their holiday pay and outstanding wages.’’
The liquidation process would probably take until the end of February. The receivers had received interest for the Pumpkin Patch brand.
First Union organiser Lisa Meto Fox said the union wanted KordaMentha to assure head office workers that they would receive their full entitlements.
‘‘In the past workers have agreed to forgo wage increases to help the company and in return they could be short-changed on their entitlements,’’ she said.
‘‘Securing entitlements like redundancy will mean life is a little easier for the staff who are going to be put out of work. It could mean the difference between meeting rent next week or not.’’
Gibson said staff would receive holiday pay entitlements, but other claims would not be met.
‘‘It’s unfortunate, but in terms of getting holiday pay, hopefully that will help in some respects.’’