Poundland supplier pulls ecommerce site Pound Panda amid family 'misunderstanding'

Supplier 151 Products, operated by the Shonn family and led by managing director Richard Shonn, pulled the site after becoming concerned that its customers, which also include 99p Stores and Poundworld, felt it was competing against them as a retailer.

Richard Shonn has claimed he had no knowledge of the site being launched. In a note sent to his customers he explained that a “younger cousin” who worked for wholesaler Shonn Brothers Manchester launched Pound Panda on his own volition, and without consulting Richard Shonn.

Shonn Brothers Manchester is a separate company to 151 Products, although both are operated by the Shonn family.  

Richard Shonn became concerned when he saw the site was selling goods that 151 Products supplies.

In the email sent to 151 Products’ customers, and seen by Retail Week, Richard Shonn said: “Unbeknown to myself, a younger cousin of mine launched this website. It is not or never has been our intention as 151 to enter into the retail space.”

Shonn said it was a case of “mistaken intentions” and said that when he became aware of the site he “instantly took measures to take the website down as we do not want to be in a position that threatens to upset or compete with any of our customers”.

Pound Panda was launched on February 7 and was pulled down days later.

The website, Poundpanda.co.uk, still features a holding page which states “due to unprecedented interest in our new site, we’ve had to temporarily close our doors while we make some necessary changes”.

Pound Panda hit headlines earlier this month because it launched before Poundworld’s ecommerce site, Poundshop.com, which had been heralded as the first single price point transactional site in the UK.

Both Shonn Brothers Manchester and 151 Products did not return calls.