Closing down sale marks beginning of end for Kirkcaldy High Street retailer

It marks the beginning of the end of the road for Wilkies after it was bought in a pre-pack administration. The deal saved some of its outlets across Scotland, but Kirkcaldy wasn’t one of them.

The High Street was only retained to sell stock that was not sold as part of the transaction.Ten members of staff were retained by the administrators while the store continued to trade.

Wilkies has been in the town since 1986, after buying Bogie’s which traded on the same site since 1893. The company appointed Blair Nimmo, chief executive, and Alistair McAlinden, managing director, of Interpath Advisory as joint administrators at the end of June. They said the Kirkcaldy store was likely to continue trading for up to eight weeks before closing its doors for good.

In an update, they said they had commenced a closing down sale at the store. It will initially see all goods discounted by 20%. Any items previously discounted will see a further reduction of 20%. Stock available includes a wide range of ladieswear and menswear, as well as homewares and cookware.

Mr McAlinden, head of Interpath Advisory in Scotland, added: “Since our appointment, trading at the Kirkcaldy store has been extremely positive, so we anticipate all remaining stock to sell quickly now that we have formally commenced this closing down sale. We’d like to thank Wilkies’ dedicated employees and its loyal customers for their tireless support.”

The joint administrators sold six stores to a new company, Wilkies Trading Limited.