Woolworths, the 100-year-old sweets-to-DVD retailer that collapsed last month, will be reborn as an online store after its brand name was bought by Shop Direct, Britain’s biggest home shopping retailer.
Deloitte, Woolworths administrators, said on Monday that Shop Direct had also bought Woolworths’ Ladybird childrenswear brand.
It did not provide financial terms of the deal.
”The Shop Direct Group plans to relaunch Woolworths as an online store selling a range of products including the Ladybird children’s label,” Deloitte said in a statement.
Woolworths went into administration, a form of creditor protection, in November, and closed the last of its 800-plus stores last month with the loss of about 27 000 jobs.
Deloitte said it was still in talks with several parties about the sale of some of the stores.
Shop Direct, which operates under brands such as Littlewoods and Kays, is owned by entrepreneurial brothers David and Frederick Barclay. — Reuters