Euro Shoe Group Seeks Judicial Restructuring and Holds Massive Sale
The Euro Shoe Group, the company behind the shoe and clothing store Bristol, formerly known as Shoe Post, has applied for a judicial restructuring at the court of Hasselt. The company hopes to find a buyer or buyers “to maximize employment retention.” This was announced by the group with 117 stores in Belgium.
Euro Shoe Group, based in Beringen, Limburg, has suffered greatly from store closures during the COVID-19 pandemic and rising rent and energy costs. In 2022, there seemed to be improvement with the first operational profit in years. However, since the fall of 2023, things have been on the decline again.
“The whole market took a hit with a significant drop in consumer confidence, a wet cold summer, and a too warm winter. Revenues kept decreasing. And if you don’t have buffers, things can go downhill very quickly. Today, we are not strong enough to handle these blows on our own. That’s why we are looking for buyers,” said CEO Elise Vanaudenhove.
The search for a buyer is likely to impact the staff within the group and in the stores. “If the judicial restructuring is approved, we will do everything we can to maintain employment by finding buyers who ensure maximum jobs or by actively assisting our employees in finding a new job,” Vanaudenhove added. The judicial restructuring would also provide the group with some time and financial breathing room to maximize the chances of survival for the company and job retention.
Next week, the group, along with a court-appointed mandatary, will seek “potential buyers in the broad retail landscape for the whole or parts of the organization.” Starting next week, Bristol plans to hold a sale in the stores “to ensure continuity during the process.” “Communication about this will happen in the coming days,” Vanaudenhove assured. “And the sale will also feature significant discounts.”
Euro Shoe Group, a family business founded in 1925, has around 170 employees at the headquarters in Beringen. The stores in Belgium are operated by independent entrepreneurs. The organization in the Netherlands, with around 80 stores, is not involved in the judicial procedure.