Germany under pressure: another retail chain goes bankrupt

Düsseldorf: At the end of August, the fashion brand Scotch & Soda will cease operations at its nearly 40 branches in Germany. About 290 people will lose their jobs, provisional bankruptcy administrator Holger Rhode told dpa. In most stores, next Saturday will be the last day of sales. About five branches may stay open longer to sell remaining merchandise.

Scotch & Soda is insolvent: 290 employees will be laid off in September.

Employees were notified Tuesday, insolvency expert Rhode reported. Most of the employees will be laid off in September. The holder of the trademark and merchandise rights, a U.S.-based private equity fund, had no interest in transferring them to a new investor or agreeing on a corresponding license.

According to Rhode, negotiations are under way with a chain of fashion stores. This involves a possible acquisition of locations and personnel. The investor would then have to come to an agreement with the property owners, Rhode explains. Half of the chain’s branches are located in Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia.

Scotch & Soda bankruptcy: fashion industry under pressure

The German subsidiary of Dutch fashion brand Scotch & Soda Retail GmbH filed for insolvency at the Düsseldorf District Court in June. According to its own information, the company recently achieved annual sales of 25 million euros in Germany. The parent company in the Netherlands, also insolvent, had recently ceased operations.

This makes Scotch & Soda one of many companies that will disappear forever from the German shopping scene. In early August, the German brand Esprit announced that it would close all 56 stores. Galeria, Sinn, Peek & Cloppenburg, Gerry Weber and The Body Shop, to name a few famous ones, have also gone bankrupt .