Boutique retailer rescued and re-structured.

 

Troubled boutique stationery retailer kikki.K has signed a partnership agreement with US stationery firm Erin Condren Design.

 

As previously reported, the fledgling global business entered voluntary administration in March, citing a "perfect storm" of retail conditions for the failure, including Brexit, civil unrest in Hong Kong, a shift to more customers buying online and the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Thirty stores and 250 jobs will be retained under the newly-restructured business, with 35 stores set to shut and around 200 jobs to be lost. The majority of stores will be Australian-based, with two in New Zealand, one in Singapore, and two in Hong Kong.

 

Kristina Karlsson (pictured), who founded the business in 2001, and co-founder Paul Lacy will continue to run the business and will remain shareholders, with kikki.K operating as a sister company to Erin Condren.