The consumer cooperative Weimar eG has submitted an application for bankruptcy.
Despite great progress in the strategic realignment, the company had to register bankruptcy, the Weimar consumer cooperative said on Monday. The application for the self -administration procedure was submitted on July 18. The aim is now to renovate and continue the company sustainably.
Lawyer Rolf Rombach from Erfurt was appointed as a provisional administrator. The Erfurt law firm Schultze & Braun accompanies the renovation process professionally. In addition, the cooperative is in close exchange with the geneover band eV, its cooperative test association.
Company goes through transformation process
The consumer cooperative has been in a comprehensive transformation process since 2019. This was continued by today’s board, consisting of Constanze Hebestreit and Maximilian Reich. However, high loans and repayment obligations from times of crisis such as Corona pandemic would continue to burden the company.
Last year at the subsidiary Fashion & Style GmbH & Co. KG, which is responsible for the trading business and the associated clothing and shoe retailers, “essential consolidation steps” were implemented, according to the announcement. To do this, have been invested in new concepts and the reduction of no longer sustainable business areas, since the costs of expiring and deficient branches – especially in the shoe area – have had an impact on the results. So far, these have been financed by the group of companies.
Despite advanced negotiations, a planned renovation loan could not be provided as expected. These influences have now led to the self -administration procedure. The Supervisory Board approved this solution and expressly expressed its trust in the board.
The Weimar eG consumption cooperative has over 6,000 members and almost 200 employees. The core business lies in the trade in textiles and shoes – especially in the department stores in Weimar, but also in five other cities in Saxony and Thuringia. The trading business is currently not restricted and the branches are regularly open.
The concepts of the cooperative include the Schillerkaufhaus and the Goethe buying house as well as the shoe retailers Antilope and Schuhprofi in Weimar, but also sales areas of Tom Tailor. Among other things, it is about the location in the “Real North House Market Passage” in Nordhausen, which was reopened by the company in early February.