Pepco Austria GmbH has filed for bankruptcy proceedings at the Vienna Commercial Court.
The proceedings by the Austrian subsidiary of the Polish trading group Pepco Group were opened on February 27th, the creditor protection association Alpine Creditors Association (AKV Europa) announced on Tuesday. Matthias Schmidt was appointed as insolvency administrator. The news came a week after the discounter announced its departure from Austria.
Pepco has been represented on the Austrian market since 2021 and currently has 73 locations there. Affected by the cessation of operations in Austria are 600 employees whose salaries and wages were paid until January.
After launching in Austria a little more than two years ago with the first stores in September 2021 in the Center 21 shopping centers in Vienna and Cine Nova in Wiener Neustadt, business stopped running in the following years and there were no increases in sales. The reason for this is also the cautious consumer behavior in Austria, the above-average inflation and the high rents and personnel costs.