Curator Paulien Waninge hopes that the shipping house for online drugstores Droginet in Winschoten, which was declared bankrupt on Tuesday, can quickly restart.
The company is currently at a standstill and that should not last too long if there is a chance of continuation, she says. She hopes to have more insight into the chances of survival next week, but is optimistic about that.
Waning: “It is a great company with opportunities and possibilities.” However, there are no takeover candidates yet, she says. “But I expect that the necessary interested parties will come forward.”
Online stores
The court declared Droginet bankrupt on Tuesday afternoon, at the same time as the affiliated online stores Koopjesdrogisterij, Drogifit and ZZShops. The curtain has also fallen for a DA drugstore from Droginet in IJmuiden.
Waninge points out that she still has to investigate the cause of the bankruptcy. Owner Mischa Strijder is said to have stated that a combination of problems caused the bankruptcy. Due to a new malfunctioning automation system, orders were not processed or not processed properly, resulting in a loss of turnover. At the same time, sales and personnel costs would have increased.
Liquidity problem
Waninge: “This created a liquidity problem. It was not possible to resolve this in consultation with the bank. As a result, they had no choice but to file for bankruptcy.”
The curator estimates the debt burden at around 15 million euros. According to her, more than 100 people worked at the company at the time of the bankruptcy.
Founders
Strijder has been the owner of Droginet since November 2021. He took over the company from the founders, the couple Jos Mekkering and Brenda Warmels from Blijham. They started the company in 2009 in Oude Pekela, after which it grew quickly. In 2019 it moved to Winschoten. Droginet then had 190 employees.