KEY POINTS:
Kathmandu founder Jan Cameron has added the Arbuckles chain of manchester stores to her growing homeware retailing empire.
The deal with Arbuckles owner Postie Plus Group announced yesterday sees Cameron take over all of the chain's stock, as well as several of the 25 stores, for an undisclosed sum.
Those not taken over will either be closed as leases expire or converted to another Postie Plus retail brand such as Postie+.
Postie Plus chief executive Ron Boskell said about half the Arbuckles stores would change hands.
"We're still working through that with Jan and we'll have an exact number towards the end of this month."
With other investments, the notably private Cameron has built up a homeware retailing business in New Zealand since selling outdoor apparel and equipment chain Kathmandu to Goldman Sachs JBWere and Quadrant Private Equity for about $275 million in 2006.
The six homeware stores trade under the brand Nood, and the addition of the Arbuckles manchester business is a seemingly logical fit.
But Boskell said Cameron had not spelled out her plans for them yet. "She hasn't indicated what she will do with the store space."
The development has bucked the trend of recent failed asset sales, most notably SkyCity Entertainment's failure to clinch a deal for its poorly performing cinema business.
Arbuckles was understood to have been in the red for some time, with heavy competition from The Warehouse Group, Farmers and Briscoes Homeware.
But Postie Plus did not need to look far for a buyer - Cameron already owns 13.9 per cent of the company.
The Arbuckles sale is a welcome ray of sunshine for the group as it seeks to counter the retailing malaise affecting the country.
It yesterday reported a 7.5 per cent fall in sales for its third quarter, and despite the current quarter lift, it expects a poorer annual result than previously foreshadowed.
Chairman Peter van Rij said the retail trading environment had been below expectations this year, in line with economic data.
"As the fourth quarter is traditionally the strongest quarter for [the group] it would be unwise to provide guidance on the extent of the loss for the group.
"However, with the slowdown in sales in the third quarter along with some margin loss, it is unlikely we will make any significant improvement on the first-half loss of $2.9 million."
The long-term outlook was better, he said.
While the lead-up to May had been "very disappointing", van Rij said the Postie+ stores had seen signs of reasonable sales growth over the past six weeks. The chain could build on its reputation as a solid and affordable retailer when difficult times affected family spending, he said.
The Baby City brand was growing - thanks in part to the country's present baby boom - with two more new branches to open in the next year.
The Arbuckles sale is subject to shareholder approval, and will continue to trade under the group until the sale is approved.
Postie Plus shares closed at 42c, down 2c.
POSTIE PLUS GROUP
Quarterly and annual sales trend
1st quarter
2008 - $27.2m
2007 - $28m
2nd quarter
2008 - $38.6m
2007 - $37.1m
3rd quarter
2008 - $29.5m
2007 - $31.9m
Year to date
2008 - $95.3m
2007 - $97m
