As expected, there are massive cuts at the insolvent retail chain Reno Schuh GmbH. The majority of the last 180 branches have to be closed. At least the brand will remain.
“Through intensive negotiations, more than 20 locations with the associated jobs were secured nationwide,” Valtier’s insolvency administrator Immo Hamer said in a statement on Thursday. In addition, “an experienced competitor will continue to run several branches under the Reno name”.
Hamer von Valtier thus confirmed the core statements of a report by the magazine “Wirtschaftswoche” from last week. According to the article, there is “a perspective for a total of 23 branches and thus for around 120 of the 1100 employees”. It is expected that nine locations will continue to be operated by the Kienast Group under the Reno brand name.
In view of the opening of the insolvency proceedings of Reno Schuh GmbH on June 1st, Hamer drew a positive interim conclusion from Valtier: “It is a good result that gives the brand a future chance. Just a few weeks ago, the company was faced with an enormous heap of shards that offered no prospect of a result that was even remotely satisfactory,” he emphasized. “Through committed and intensive cooperation with those involved in the proceedings, we have nevertheless succeeded in giving everyone involved a perspective.” Now it is a matter of “looking at the past and examining the resulting liability and avoidance claims,” says Hamer von Valtier.
At the end of March, Reno Schuh GmbH had to file for insolvency together with the parent company Reno Schuhcentrum GmbH. The reason given by the company was that the planned restructuring efforts had not been feasible due to the unexpectedly weak sales development. Subsequently, the regional companies in Austria and Switzerland also filed for bankruptcy.