Just about bankrupt
“The current situation is very disappointing for parties involved, in particular for our employees, suppliers, banks and shareholders who have loyally supported our company in these trying times.”, Macintosh wrote in a press release.
A spokesperson for the Maastricht-based company told BNR Nieuwsradio that it is “bankrupt” and it has to wait for a court to appoint a guardian who will have to see if there are any possible buyers for its subsidiaries. Macintosh employs 5,500 people. The request for “deferred payment” only deals with the holding itself, not with the subsidiaries.
550 stores for sale
The news broke only a day after Macintosh revealed it would sell its remaining 550 Belgian and Dutch stores without any high profit expectations. Prior to that, it had already sold Brantano’s British branch and its furniture chain Kwantum.
The group will have to drop its ambition to strategically fall back onto its Benelux shoe sales now that it has basically filed for Chapter 11. It is also bad news for several Dutch retail families (like those that own chains Zeeman and Blokker) that invested into Macintosh only last year.
