Vintage clothing, furniture and homeware brand Cath Kidston was acquired by Next in a £8.5 million deal
Next has bought the Cath Kidston brand for £8.5 million but not the four stores, putting jobs at risk.
The High Street chain yesterday picked up the vintage retailer’s brand name, domain names and intellectual property.
But some of Cath Kidston’s 125 employees will lose their jobs and the brand – which has campaigned with model Poppy Delevingne – will close stores after selling off its remaining stock.
Buyout: Cath Kidston — who has campaigned with model Poppy Delevingne (pictured) — will close stores after remaining stock is sold
Administrators said stores in London, Ashford in Kent, York and the designer outlet Cheshire Oaks in Ellesmere Port would remain open ‘for the foreseeable future’.
The first Cath Kidston store opened in west London in 1993, but operated mainly online after falling under administration in 2020 when nearly 1,000 jobs and 60 stores were axed.
Self Hussain, co-manager and partner for PwC, said the retailer is struggling due to Covid and cost-of-living pressures.
But he said Next would keep Cath Kidston ‘blossoming’.