“The family did not damage the company’s liquidity”

Dusseldorf The ailing fashion retailer Peek & Cloppenburg Düsseldorf (P&C) is serious about restructuring its German business: this Friday it was announced internally that 350 of the 1,500 jobs at the headquarters would be cut. A whole hierarchical level directly below the management is eliminated. “Now the management is closer to the machine room and thus closer to the customer,” explains Managing Director Thomas Freude in an interview with the Handelsblatt.

Freude emphasized that the imbalance arose because the online business is heavily in deficit. This had been thought too big and that must now be corrected. “The stationary business is definitely profitable and sustainable today,” said the managing director, who has only been in office since January. That is why it is also planned not to close any of the 67 houses in Germany.