As part of its ongoing restructuring efforts, the Hamburg shoe retailer Görtz will make cuts in its branch network. The company confirmed this on Monday at the request of FashionUnited. The specialist magazine Textilwirtschaft (TW) had previously reported on corresponding plans.
The retailer confirmed in a statement that unprofitable stores would have to be closed in order not to jeopardize Görtz’s chances of restructuring. The decision to give up locations in Bielefeld, Dortmund and Flensburg has already been made.
The company is currently still negotiating “significant rent reductions” for some locations
How many more stores have to be closed still depends on the ongoing negotiations with “numerous landlords” about “significant rent reductions”, the company explained. “We cannot and do not want to anticipate the outcome of the talks. We will not speculate about the number of branches to be closed,” said Görtz.
In view of the adverse market conditions, the retail group had applied for so-called protective shield proceedings for the parent company Ludwig Görtz GmbH and insolvency proceedings under self-administration for the operating subsidiaries Görtz Retail GmbH and Görtz Logistik GmbH on September 6th. According to his own statements, at that time he was running around 160 branches in Germany and Austria.
At the time, the shoe supplier cited “significant sales declines” as the reason for the step. As a result of the “increased energy costs and high inflation”, there was an “enormous reluctance to buy” on the part of customers. The aim of the proceedings is therefore a “sustainable restructuring” of the company.