Esprit closes all stores in Germany
Published: Friday, Aug 9th 2024, 10:50
Zurück zu Live Feed
The fashion group Esprit is selling its brand rights for Europe. The stores in Germany are to close, but the brand will continue to exist.
The fashion group Esprit is closing all of its 56 stores in Germany by the end of the year. Around 1,300 employees will lose their jobs, as the Deutsche Presse-Agentur has learned. The company had already announced the closure of 23 stores in Switzerland in March of this year.
The brand rights for the insolvent European business are to be sold to the British financial investor Alteri. Esprit did not wish to disclose the purchase price. The companies are to be wound up and the products sold in the stores.
The financial investor will not take over the operational business, i.e. neither the stores nor the employees. The total number of jobs in the stores and the head office in Ratingen will be lost as a result. The creditors' committee of the seven insolvent German Esprit companies has signed a corresponding notice, as the company announced.
Esprit should have a future as a brand
Esprit is to be continued as a brand in the foreseeable future, according to reports. Alteri owns the fashion company CBR Fashion with the Street One and Cecil brands, among others.
Esprit Europe GmbH and six other group companies of the fashion group filed for insolvency under self-administration in May. The proceedings were opened by Düsseldorf Local Court on August 1. Esprit Europe GmbH is the parent company for Esprit in Germany, France, Belgium, Austria, the Scandinavian countries, Poland and the UK. Purchasing and sales are organized in various European subsidiaries and sub-subsidiaries.
Business abroad not affected
Esprit is active in around 40 countries worldwide. Businesses outside Europe are not affected by the insolvency. The group's main company, Esprit Holding, is based in Hong Kong. However, Germany is the Group's most important market.
The fashion group Esprit had already applied for protective shield proceedings for several German companies in 2020. At that time, around 50 stores in Germany were closed and around 1,100 jobs were cut.
©Keystone/SDA
German 
English 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic