The Directors of James Pascoe Ltd (JPL) are pleased to confirm that it has now settled the purchase of the Whitcoulls and Borders businesses, thereby bringing the iconic Whitcoulls brand back into New Zealand hands.

JPL is particularly delighted that the vast majority of Whitcoulls employees have been retained to help rebuild the Whitcoulls brand and bring it back to its former position at the forefront of New Zealand retailing.

A condition of the purchase was the transfer of the majority of the Whitcoulls leases to the JPL Group. JPL would like to thank the landlords involved for their ongoing support of the Whitcoulls brand and for their positive attitude that has lead to the retention of a number of outlets that were not originally included in the transaction, bringing the total number of stores acquired by JPL to 64.

The Borders stores are likely to be rebranded to a larger format Whitcoulls store. It is envisaged that these stores will combine the strength of the Borders offer with the strengths of Whitcoulls.

JPL confirms the appointment of Ian Draper to the role of Managing Director of Whitcoulls and wishes him and his team, of what we like to call our “business family” the very best for the future.

As a thank you to all the loyal Whitcoulls customers, JPL will honour all unexpired gift cards and gift vouchers at full face value in a Whitcoulls store.

All companies within the JPL group are 110% behind this purchase and will add considerable resources both in the short and longer term to assist in the rapid return of the business to its former position of preeminence

The challenge is to make the Whitcoulls business and its product offering “relevant and desirable”, to refresh the stores, re-motivate, listen to and involve its team members, so as to make Whitcoulls a store that all New Zealanders can feel part of and proud of.

Media release sourced from Scoop.