Fashion retail: Some Esprit stores will remain open until January

The fashion group Esprit will only close around 30 of its 56 stores in Germany at the end of January and therefore later than planned. There is still enough goods available, and they also want to take advantage of the Christmas business and promotional days such as Black Friday, a spokesman for the company told the German Press Agency. The decision was made together with the administrator and the creditors’ committees. The remaining 25 or so stores will be closed by the end of November or have already been closed, as planned in the original schedule.

Esprit filed for bankruptcy for its European business in May due to insolvency and excessive indebtedness. At the beginning of August it became known that the company would close all branches in Germany and be liquidated. As a result, 1,300 employees lose their jobs.

Esprit has now reached an agreement with some of its employees to stay for a longer period of time, said the spokesman. The current company headquarters for the European business in Ratingen will be vacated by the end of November. The income from the sales should benefit the creditors.

Germany’s largest shoe retailer Deichmann has acquired the Esprit trademark rights for Europe. The company, which has been an Esprit licensee since 2019, wants to concentrate on the footwear product area. The trademark rights for the Esprit textile area go to the “Theia Group of Companies”. Theia Brands is a service provider specializing in brand management.