The Augsburg fashion retailer Rübsamen was unable to attract any investors and therefore has no future prospects.
A “long-term and profitable continuation” would not be possible without investors, said the law firm Pluta Rechtsanwalts GmbH on Monday, whose lawyer Georg Stemshorn is active as the administrator of the insolvent fashion retailer. As a result, Textilhaus Rübsamen GmbH & Co. KG and the other two companies in the group will be discontinued.
Last stores open until May
After the first stores in Aichach and Schrobenhausen as well as a partner store in Friedberg closed in January, the Augsburg headquarters will remain open until the end of April. The remaining locations, a total of 14 stores, should remain open until the end of May at the latest, depending on how inventory is sold.
Around 100 employees who were informed about the situation on Monday are affected by the cessation of business.
Christmas business inadequate
The Rübsamen Group has been in self-administration insolvency proceedings since September last year. The reason for this is the declining consumer behavior of customers due to inflation, the energy crisis and the war in Ukraine, as well as the sharp increase in costs.
“Unfortunately, the Christmas business was also unable to absorb this development; it remained below expectations across the industry, especially in stationary retail,” said Managing Director Marcus Vorwohlt. “We worked intensively on the renovation concept, reduced the space and also developed new projects such as an exclusive ‘private shopping’ concept. Ultimately, however, that is unfortunately not enough. The past few weeks have shown that a significant improvement in the sales situation is not possible despite all the measures.”
In the past few weeks, those responsible have held numerous discussions with potential interested parties. However, because of the “difficult industry and company situation”, no one is willing to invest and continue the group on the basis of the restructuring concept, according to the statement. Other possible solutions were also examined and could not be implemented. At the end of October, Vorwohlt still intended to continue the company “under its own steam”.