Berlin-based Shoepassion GmbH, which has been going through self-administration insolvency proceedings since March last year, is now to be restructured. The creditors approved the insolvency plan at the beginning of this week. The responsible district court in Charlottenburg then confirmed the plan.
In recent months, significant restructuring and reorganization measures have been implemented in the company in close coordination with the restructuring representative, lawyer Andreas Budnik from the law firm AndresPartner. The former online player, which had also opened ten stationary stores in Germany and Austria before bankruptcy in 2023, wants to focus on online business again. Seven stores have already been closed as a result of the bankruptcy. During the renovation, the shops in Berlin and in Bietigheim-Bissingen near Stuttgart were moved to new premises with a better location and more favorable conditions and were modernized at the same time. The store will also be continued and developed in Frankfurt am Main. In addition, the own brands should be strengthened. Last year, the sneaker brand N91 and the “modern classics” brand Henry Stevens also got their own online presence.
There are also changes at the Berlin headquarters. It was moved from the city center to the outskirts of Marzahn, where the in-house logistics and customer service are also located.
Downsizing of management
During the course of the process, the management team was also significantly reduced in size. The managing director and CFO Daniel Pokorzynski had already resigned from his position on June 30, 2023. Company spokesman Tobias Börner left Shoepassion “for the benefit of the company and the successful restructuring on October 31, 2023,” the company said in a statement.
“We are very happy to have gotten through the self-administration process well so far in these challenging times and are extremely grateful for the positive agreement with our creditors and business partners. It was a hard time with deep cuts for everyone involved, but we are optimistic about the impending reversal of the proceedings,” says Björn Henning, who represents the company as sole managing director.
The company cites the previous three years of crisis with the corona pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis, price increases, inflation and the cold consumer climate as the reason for its bankruptcy last year. Started as a pure online retailer in 2010, it was “the company’s retail arm that accelerated Shoepassion’s financial problems due to the closures during the Corona period and the visitors no longer returning after the pandemic,” the company continued.