The search for investors by the insolvent shoe retailer Reno does not seem to have been successful.
Around 150 of the 180 remaining branches would now be closed, the “Wirtschaftswoche” reported last week. The newspaper referred to the statements made by the Reno insolvency administrator Immo Hamer von Valtier at a works meeting in Osnabrück. Von Valtier has not yet responded to a request from FashionUnited.
At least a “small solution” was found when looking for investors, they say. In concrete terms, this means that a total of 23 branches and 120 of the shoe retailer’s 1,100 jobs will be retained. According to the media report, nine of the 23 locations are to be taken over by the Kienast Group. The group, which includes ABC Schuh-Center, K+K Schuh-Center and Schuhpark, will continue to operate the branches under the Reno name.
The crisis had been foreseeable for a long time
At the end of March, insolvency proceedings for the parent company Reno Schuhcentrum GmbH and Reno Schuh GmbH were ordered by the district court of Hamelin. At this time, Von Valtier was also appointed liquidator. According to the report, von Valtier made it clear at the works meeting how precarious the situation for Reno really is. Reno is so run down that the takeover of further branch packages is out of the question for investors. When the bankruptcy filing was filed, some Reno stores were already without power due to outstanding payments and the inventory was only 20 percent. Reno himself said in a statement at the end of March that the goods had not been delivered because the negotiations in this regard had dragged on.
While Reno’s sister companies in Switzerland and Austria were initially unaffected by the proceedings, they too have since filed for bankruptcy. The HR Group, which sold Reno in October to Cm.Sports GmbH based in Springe, Lower Saxony, also filed for bankruptcy in April. When Reno was sold more than six months ago, an imminent insolvency could not be ruled out, according to a statement from the shoe retailer in March.