 Pumpkin Patch to Launch New Standalone Brand
(New Zealand) - April 2010
Hot on the heels of its move into China, Pumpkin Patch has announced plans to launch a new standalone brand for the Australasian market. The focus will be on children’s playwear, which accounts for 70 percent of the NZ$3 billion childrenswear market Down Under. “The introduction of a dual brand aimed at a different segment of the market is a model that has been successfully followed by numerous international clothing companies,” says Pumpkin Patch chief executive, Maurice Prendergast.
“This move will allow us to leverage our existing infrastructure and retail expertise for the benefit of both brands. We already have interest from a number of wholesale partners who see opportunities for the new brand in their home markets, so we are encouraged about what we might be able to do internationally.”
Pumpkin Patch already has 340 ‘wholesale doors’ around the world and is working to strengthen its wholesale base in Europe and the Middle East. However, the company’s key export market is still Australia, which represents 52 percent of sales and turnover of NZ$100 million for the six months to January 2010.
For the same period, tax-paid profit increased 50 percent to N$14.3 million despite an 8 percent drop in operating revenue for the same period, following cost-cutting in the U.S market where the company closed 15 stores. Meanwhile, wholesale earnings were down 12.7 percent to NZ$6.2 million, which was attributed in part to the high Kiwi dollar and stockists’ reduced stock levels.
The new brand will initially be launched in New Zealand and Australia, with six to eight stores rolled out by the end of the year. And, with Australia coming out of the recession well, Prendergast sees no reason why there shouldn’t be 160 Pumpkin Patch stores across the Tasman, with plans already underway to add as many as 40 stores to the current total of 114 over the next three years.
The company is also moving into markets previously occupied by British competitor Adams Kids, which has gone into administration, and recently opened its first flagship store in Beijing.
Image: Pumpkin Patch
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