Peterborough’s baby and toddler product retailer Kiddicare is to be axed by current owner home furnishings giant Dunelm, after almost 45 years in business.
Dunelm – which bought Kiddicare out of administration in December 2016 – has confirmed that the last remaining Kiddicare store and the Kiddicare.com website will be both be closed, with the kids and baby business transferring to the parent company.
The retailer said it had tested Kiddicare as an online and in-store brand and concluded that the businesses could be developed most profitably rebranded to Dunelm.
The Dunelm website FAQs state that Kiddicare.com will be moving to the Dunelm.com website from July 26, while the Peterborough store will close at some point during the 2019 financial year.
The news came after the firm announced a 4.6% sales slump across its stores. “Having had 18 months since bringing the Kiddicare brand into the business, we are now confident that the most effective and simplest route forwards is to operate this category under the Dunelm brand,” said a spokesperson. “As a result, we will be ceasing to trade Kiddicare as a standalone brand and website in the coming weeks and months.”
At the height of its success, Kiddicare was a £40million turnover business employing around 200 people. It was sold for £70million to supermarket chain Morrisons in 2011 before being sold to private equity firm Endless for just £2 million.
