The sales of the Hamburg shoe retailer were well below expectations in the first quarter. As a result, the responsible administrator had to report an impending inadequacy to the court at the end of March. The Hamburg-based company confirmed this to FashionUnited after several media, including the specialist magazine Schuhkurier, reported on it.
Görtz is in a restructuring process under self-administration. In the first quarter of 2023, the retailer had an “unexpectedly bad business trend”, according to Hamburg. Görtz cited the “persistent reluctance to buy due to high inflation, significantly increased energy prices and the bad weather of the last few weeks” as reasons for the subdued demand in the shoe trade.
Management believes in restructuring
Nevertheless, the managing directors Frank Revermann and Tobias Volgmann are convinced of the restructuring and want to continue it. “Our stores remain open and we want to continue to sell as many shoes as possible – with or without discount campaigns. All of our employees in the stores, at headquarters and in logistics work with a high level of commitment to achieve this,” says Revermann.
If there is an insufficiency of assets in self-administration proceedings, the company can pay the costs of the proceedings, but not the other liabilities, such as for suppliers and service providers. The notification of the impending insufficiency of assets could affect the restructuring process and result in an adjustment of the restructuring plan.
The judicial reorganization proceedings of the parent company Ludwig Görtz GmbH and the operating subsidiaries Görtz Retail GmbH and Görtz Logistik GmbH were opened in October and self-administration was ordered. As a result, several leases for branches were terminated. 80 stores, including the flagships in Düsseldorf and Frankfurt, have to close.
After Görtz had found an investor who was still unknown in February, it was announced in March that the founding family Görtz was selling its share in the shoe retailer of the same name to the investor couple Leonie and Burkhard von Wangenheim.