Fashion company Doniger Fashion Group, which owns clothing brands Gaastra and McGregor, is in trouble once more. It asked a judge for deferred payment, barely a year following its previous bankruptcy.
“Fought really hard”
Gaastra and McGregor’s 75 stores will continue to operate, but it seems a new bankruptcy is on the horizon. The majority (53 stores) is in the Netherlands, with the remainder in Belgium, France and Germany.
“This is a horrible situation for every employee”, CEO Joep van Straaten said in a press release, according to FD. “Everyone fought really hard to keep the company afloat, but we failed to do so. We have faith in our strong brands and will do everything we can to find the company a new future.”
McGregor went bankrupt in June 2016 and its shareholders bought back the company to enable a restart, although they got rid of the debt. Several onerous stores were also closed at that time.
Uncertainty
That restart was highly contentious, because the shareholders (which are also the major debtors) rejected every other offer for McGregor and Gaastra’s stores.
Suppliers suffered a lot during the previous bankruptcy, because their invoices were left unpaid. They will now once again fear for the result of the current procedure. The employees will also once again fear for their job: last time around, hundreds – mainly older – employees were fired.
