The ailing fashion chain Orsay from Willstätt will have to part with at least 79 of the current 197 stores in Germany. In some cases, several branches in one city are affected, for example in Berlin, Hamburg and Munich. The textile industry has published a list of the closing shops. Up to 212 employees are affected by the closures, it says. In total, Orsay employed 1179 women and men in Germany.
At the end of November 2021, Orsay GmbH had applied for protective shield proceedings due to impending insolvency. At the end of January, the protective shield became self-administered insolvency proceedings. In the summer, the company received a loan of EUR 33 million from the WSF Economic Stabilization Fund. The high sales losses caused by the corona pandemic have gotten the company into difficulties, according to the company’s explanation.
An important measure in recent weeks has been the negotiations with the landlords of the shops. In some cases there were high discounts, although not everywhere, according to CEO Sascha Bopp in an interview with the textile industry. In addition, the general loss of footfall in stationary retail at some locations suggested that it was not possible to continue the business economically.
Orsay belongs to the French Mulliez Group and has more than 700 stores in 34 countries. Only the German company is affected by the insolvency, not the other nine. Mulliez also owns the fashion chain Pimkie, which also filed for bankruptcy last year and reduced the number of its branches in Germany from 75 to 40.
Photo: Orsay