Frasers Group puts two kidswear brands into administration

Just over a year on from its acquisition of the two brands, Frasers Group has reportedly put both Kids Cavern and Base Childrenswear into administration.

Mike Ashley’s fashion retail conglomerate purchased the labels from JD Sports back in December 2022, in a deal that also included 12 other brands amounting to 47.5 million pounds.

However, the company is now said to have appointed Michael Lennon and Benjamin Wiles of Kroll Advisory as joint administrators to the kidswear retailers, according to Drapers.

Base Childrenswear, which has since been rebranded as Flannels Junior, operates four stores, while Kids Cavern had three stores, one of which has also undergone a Flannels Junior rebranding.

The media outlet further reported that closing down sales had commenced in all seven locations, with 50 staff members understood to be at risk of redundancy.

Both Base Childrenswear and Kids Cavern had been acquired by Frasers at the same time as the likes of Tessuti, Choice, Cricket and Missy Empire, all of which had been offloaded by JD, which was setting about on a strategy to refocus its portfolio towards elevated sportswear.

Frasers, meanwhile, has been on its own acquisition spree in recent years, snapping up the likes of Studio Retail and I Saw it First, as well as securing stakes in Hugo Boss, Boohoo and Mulberry.