Shareholders of high-end Wellington retailer Kirkcaldie & Stains have overwhelmingly agreed to a takeover by an Australian retailer.
Photo: Pear285 / CC BY-SA 4.0
At a special meeting in Wellington, 99 percent of investors voted to sell the retailer's brand and pass on the store lease to Australian company David Jones.
The decision to wind up the company comes after falling sales and several years of losses.
Investor Glenys Arthur said the writing had been on the wall for some time and the deicison to sell was the right one.
"I really have been looking forward to this, it's the only thing you can do," said Ms Arthur.
"I think David Jones is a great firm - providing they don't get into trouble too, because things were bad in Australia for David Jones at one stage and they were rescued."
Another shareholder, Michael George, said single store operators will struggle in a country of four million people, in the current enviroment.
Kirkcaldie & Stains chairman Falcon Clouston said the company was working on how best to pay shareholders the $19.4 million it had in cash, which was about $1.88 a share.
Shareholders would receive further payments from the sale of stock and assets, probably in 2017, though it was not yet known how much that would be as yet.
Kirkcaldie & Stains will close its doors in late January, after which the store would be handed over to David Jones to refurbish.
