The fashion retailer wants to reorganize itself in a protective shield procedure.
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Dusseldorf The Düsseldorf fashion retailer Peek & Cloppenburg KG, which has come under pressure in the corona crisis, has applied for protective shield proceedings at the Düsseldorf District Court. The company announced this on Friday. All 67 sales outlets and the online shop remained open without restrictions, the company said. The procedure is necessary in order to “adapt to the changed market conditions in Germany”.
In 2020 and 2021, the corona crisis led to a massive slump in sales, which put a heavy strain on the company’s liquidity, it said. “The impact has hit us hard, causing a loss in the hundreds of millions,” a company official said. Now the fashion retailer is also suffering from poor consumer behavior as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
It is striking that CEO Edgar Hert is not mentioned in the announcement. He had launched a major digital offensive. However, the company declined to comment on this. However, the communication states that the company’s online strategy must be “reconsidered and adapted to the given circumstances”.
Thomas Freude, Managing Director since the beginning of the year, is also quoted as saying that although the multichannel strategy is being adhered to, the focus is now clearly on the “core business in stationary retail”. In online trading, people will act more cautiously than in previous years.
In a protective shield procedure, the management remains fully capable of acting, it is assigned a trustee. The lawyer Horst Piepenburg was appointed by the District Court of Düsseldorf. Restructuring expert Dirk Andres from the law firm Andres Partner supports the management in the restructuring.
The employees, as well as some suppliers, have already been informed in advance. Managing Director Freude told the “Wirtschaftswoche” that the company with around 6800 employees will probably be able to manage without any redundancies in its stores.
He expects the protective shield procedure to be completed soon: “We assume that we will be able to complete the procedure by the end of the year at the latest via an insolvency plan.” This will then regulate which creditors are willing to make which concessions so that the company can continue . The owner family have also “already signaled their basic support”.
An insider reports that the bankruptcy of Peek & Cloppenburg is a heavy blow for the suppliers. Some were already informed on Thursday.
With agency material
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