National stationery retailer Kikki.K has been placed into receivership as the country's brutal retail sector, coupled with "unprecedented" external factors, continues to claim victims.

The company's founders expressed "profound regret and sadness" after announcing the closure late on Tuesday afternoon, blaming a "perfect storm" of conditions for the shutdown. This included Brexit in the United Kingdom, civil unrest in Hong Kong, and a "profound structural change" of shoppers buying more online.

Kikki K was founded by Swedish entrepreneur Kristina Karlsson in 2001. Credit:Josh Robenstone

Chief executive Paul Lacy also flagged a poor Christmas trading period and an "unprecedented line up of external factors" such as the coronavirus as reasons for the business' collapse. "We’ve had the triple-whammy of soft consumer demand, the business impact of bushfires and more recently the unprecedented and profound impact of coronavirus which is hitting so many businesses and countries so hard," he said.

"This unprecedented line-up of external factors, particularly in recent weeks, has really taken its toll. As we looked ahead we just didn’t have the certainty we could keep going so have had to take this decision."