French shoe chain Eram will divest entirely from Belgium. Every store will be shut and 130 people may lose their job. There were talks of a restructuring plan, but it turns there will not be one.
Major losses
The goal of that restructuring plan was to shut down 13 stores and cut 70 jobs, but the talks ended when there was not enough money to support the social plan.
For that reason, the board has now decided to divest from Belgium entirely. “We are confronted with a rapidly worsening situation and are taking into account the very insecure economic circumstances”, the board claims. The chain will now look for a buyer for (at least some of) its stores in an attempt to save as many jobs as possible and in the meantime, all stores will remain open. Labour union talks are scheduled for 7 March and at that time, the company will also present the possible buyers.
Eram Belgium has about 40 stores, but has underperformed for years. In 2015, it suffered a 2.6 million euro loss on a 14 million euro turnover and apparently, the results for 2016 are also abysmal.
