The McEwens of Perth brand is being offered for sale to raise cash to meet the debts of the historic retailer which has gone into administration.
Bids have been invited for the intellectual property (IP) assets of the retail and lifestyle business in St John Street.
Founded in 1868, McEwens went into administration at the end of March with owners the Bullough family blaming the credit crunch and the rise of the internet and out-of-town shopping.
KPMG were brought in as administrators and the store’s 110 staff in Perth, Ballater and Oban faced redundancy.
The administrators are now trying to sell the brand behind Scotland’s largest independent fashion chain, which has a heritage of high quality, made to measure, fashion which spans three centuries.
Commercial IP consultants Metis Partners say the brand has significant cachet value as the name to trust for high end and bespoke fashion in Scotland.
They are offering a package of assets including trade mark rights protecting the heritage McEwens of Perth brand, as well as rights over Boutique McEwens, and a selection of branded websites, domain names and databases, from the company’s e-commerce side.
This is a unique opportunity to purchase an iconic Scottish retail, lifestyle and fashion brand with considerable heritage value.
They say another feature of this IP asset sale is the “overwhelmingly positive customer sentiment towards the McEwens of Perth brand.”
Nat Baldwin, head of corporate recovery at Metis Partners, said: “This is a unique opportunity to purchase an iconic Scottish retail, lifestyle and fashion brand with considerable heritage value.
“These opportunities just don’t come around that often. McEwens of Perth has had a trusted reputation, and this is an excellent opportunity for a purchaser to ensure that the brand continues in business.
“Metis Partners are pleased to offer this portfolio of attractive IP assets, and the goodwill and national reputation for luxury and quality attached to it.”
The deadline for offers for the sale of what Metis say will be of significant interest to parties operating in the high street retail, department store, online retail, lifestyle, fashion and homeware sectors is May 17.
The Perth store is still opening for reduced hours under a closing down sale.
