The Australian arm of colourful French giftware retailer, Pylones, has been put up for sale by administrators after ongoing struggles in a tough retail market.

Pylones Australia, which employs about 20 people across three stores in Melbourne and Sydney, has appointed accounting group, HLB Mann Judd partners, Todd Gammel and Barry Taylor, as voluntary administrators.

“Pylones Australia has not performed in Australia as expected due to a number of factors, including the current difficult retail trading environment,” the administrators said in a statement.

Gammel said Pylones Australia was losing money and its Paris-based owner had decided no further support would be provided.

He said Pylones’ niche products – which range from nightlights and clocks to mobile phone covers and photo frames – had not been a huge hit with Australian consumers.

“We’re a slightly different market to where it’s been successful in Europe and Asia,” he said.

The administrators are now assessing the business and seeking to sell all or parts of it.

“If not, the options start to come back to a closure or a restructure around some of the stores,” Gammel said.

Gammel said employees could not be guaranteed the safety of their jobs at this stage.

Pylones Australia was established in 2011.

Its parent company has stores in Asia, Europe, South Africa, and the United States.