Oldham Athletic’s club shop will close for refurbishment and rebranding next week to mark another chapter in the rebirth of the football club, and all aspects of the business being reunited under one umbrella, having lost hundreds of thousands of pounds following the collapse of Elite Sports Group last year.

Latics have revealed that losses ran into six figures when the British distributor of Danish brand Hummel, who up until the summer manufactured the club's kit and training wear and effectively ran the club shop, went into administration in November.

The end of Elite also left Oldham in a predicament when it came to a new kit. At the time, designs for this season's kit, which would have again been manufactured by Hummel, were ready to be signed off.

Instead, Latics were left with a race against time to not only find a new brand and kit supplier but also three new kits.

The third choice and semi-bespoke away kit have already been released, with the brand new semi-bespoke home kit due to be officially unveiled by the club tomorrow (Friday), when it will be available for pre-order.

And the club's head of retail relations, Jimmy Schofield, said none of it would be possible but for the efforts of everyone on all sides of the equation.

"The work that's gone in to still have a club shop, and a kit for this season, is incredible," he said.

"We appreciate the reaction to the third kit was mixed, but we signed with Puma at the beginning of March so to be in the position we are is remarkable because we've had to start again.

"Once we'd got the home and away kit sorted with Puma the only choice was an off-the-shelf kit for the third choice because of the timeframe. It was either going to be yellow or the burgundy maroon, and we thought the burgundy maroon has got echoes back to past kits.

"And to be fair it's a nice kit and I think when people see the kit physically I think they will change their minds a little bit.

"But that's the position we were in, it was yellow or burgundy.

"We've delivered a tangerine and it's what they call a semi-bespoke kit - it's a bespoke panel on the front - and I think we've gone really strong with the home kit.

"I think it's really important that people know we were probably nine months behind where we should have been.

"And fair play to Puma they have pulled the stops out. But because we were so far behind that's why we haven't got the kits in store yet.

"We only got the sample of the kit about five weeks ago. That's how close we are.

"It's not our fault or Puma's fault, it's just the timescale."

Schofield added: "It's taken so long to get there but there is light at the end of the tunnel, and it's been a team effort - not just from the shop but from the media team as well. Everyone has really pulled out the stops for us.

"And Puma as well. To get a full new kit and a shop turned round in three months, it's unheard of."

Now, having had to spend significant amounts of money to buy their own stock from a warehouse that was owed by Elite, retrain staff and establish their own contracts with storage, distribution and manufacturing companies, Schofield is confident that the effort and expense will pay off for the club shop, which will be renamed AthleticStore once it re-opens following a complete revamp on July 29, with a special launch at 11am ahead of the home friendly with Mansfield.

"We only got 15 per cent of sales before when Elite ran it. We're now getting 100 per cent," Schofield continued.

"Everything is in-house and is being run fully by Oldham Athletic.

"We're going to try to give supporters an environment to shop, to enjoy and to be proud of. We want it to be a place that’s fun to be in and modern.

"We appreciate these are difficult economic times but the support we receive is more important than ever and Oldham supporters are some of the best around.

"We're delighted to have produced a range dedicated to the Athleticos which is being produced by Puma, consisting of two t-shirts and a hoody.

“Members of the Athleticos were involved in the design and we really believe there will be something for everyone."