Vaperite made it clear that they bought the shops but not the stock hence, they are not responsible for fulfillment of any orders placed before 1st Jan 2021 and I think that is quite fair. Now, the responsibility lies only with the Vapeshop guys....
Bought the shops? ... They either bought the trading entity(ies), the business of the trading entity(ies), the assets of the trading entity, (which may include buildings), and / or took over some, or all leases, and their liability is dependent upon which option(s) they exercised.