A big blow for Munich: Because the insolvent sports store SportScheck was unable to reach an agreement with the owner of the Munich main store, Bayrisch Hausbau, the branch not far from Munich’s Marienplatz will now close. “The owner of the property on Neuhauser Straße is not making any contribution to the restructuring of the traditional Munich sports retailer as part of the insolvency,” says SportScheck’s press release.
SportScheck is looking for new property
Nevertheless, SportScheck wants to retain the important Munich location and is already looking for potential new sales areas in downtown Munich. This is also a topic in ongoing discussions with investors, according to the company. The new branch will be based on the new “Future Retail Store Concept”, which was first opened in Stuttgart a year ago. According to this concept, the Bielefeld branch is also scheduled to reopen on February 8th.
On November 30, 2023, SportScheck filed an application to open insolvency proceedings due to insolvency because the previous owner, Signa Holding, was no longer able to meet its contractually agreed payment obligations due to its own insolvency. Initially, SportScheck thought that the Signa bankruptcy would not affect the sports retailer. At the beginning of November 2023, the company wrote, “We have a sustainable and solid transformation plan that will continue to exist. SportScheck has not filed for bankruptcy.” At the end of November the situation changed and Sportscheck also slipped into bankruptcy.
Takeover by Frasers Group unclear
The surprising bankruptcy also affected the takeover plans by the British Frasers Group. Due to the new development, the company withdrew from the takeover agreement concluded in October with Signa Retail Department Store Holding GmbH, the parent company of SportScheck. However, Frasers continued to express interest in SportSckeck.
SportScheck was founded in Munich in 1946 and currently operates 34 branches in Germany.