The MediaMarkt wants to take as many employees as possible from the at least seven BCC stores that the electronics chain is taking over, says financial director Sebastiaan Stipdonk in conversation with the ANP. On Monday, regulator ACM gave permission for the takeover of eight of the almost sixty locations of the bankrupt BCC. It was not yet known what would happen to the more than a hundred employees of the acquired stores.
MediaMarkt does not take over employment contracts from BCC. All employees were dismissed during the bankruptcy in September. According to Stipdonk, all former employees who want to continue working in the stores under the MediaMarkt flag are welcome at the chain. “We have a good impression of the staff and have called on the staff of this and surrounding stores to apply for a job with us.” Stipdonk reports that a large number of discussions are already underway and expects that a large number of the former employees of the stores will join MediaMarkt.
Four of the eight leases have now been signed, says Stipdonk. He expects an agreement with the landlords of three locations in the short term. He does not think he will be able to reach an agreement with the landlord of the store in Hilversum in the short term, but possibly at a later date. If MediaMarkt succeeds in taking over eight stores, the electronics chain will have 56 locations in the Netherlands.
The intention is for the new stores to open on November 22, Stipdonk said. That is two days before the bargain festival Black Friday, which came over from America, and November and December are the peak season for MediaMarkt. In those months people buy a lot of gifts for the holidays. In the coming weeks, the BCC stores will be converted into MediaMarkts.
BCC went bankrupt because the chain said it was suffering from ‘continued and increasingly difficult market conditions’. The electronics market collapsed the year after the corona pandemic. The chain found it even more difficult due to, among other things, high inflation and lower consumer spending and was unable to pass on its increased costs to consumers.
MediaMarkt also sees that the electronics market is struggling, says Stipdonk. That is why, according to him, the chain has saved costs by, for example, consuming less energy when energy prices rose. He states that this is one of the reasons why MediaMarkt is doing well. “We have a large range on the market and we therefore expect to make more turnover.”
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