Early moderate Esprit closes the last branch in Germany

The fashion group Esprit closes the last of its shops in Germany at the end of January. This was confirmed by a spokesman for the company of the German Press Agency.

Actually, all of the last 56 shops should be closed until the end of November. Almost 30 stayed open longer to take the Christmas business with them.

In May 2024, Esprit had registered bankruptcy for his European business due to insolvency and over -indebtedness. A buyer was not found. In August it was announced that Esprit closes all branches in Germany and will be processed. 1300 employees therefore lose their job.

The previous company headquarters for the European business in Ratingen was cleared in November. A small team will take care of the remaining settlement measures in the coming months, according to the spokesman.

The shoe retailer Deichmann acquired the Esprit brand rights for Europe. The company, which has been the Esprit licensee since 2019, wants to concentrate on the product area shoes. 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. So far, the company has not commented on his plans with Esprit. One is committed to “in the partnership with Deichmann for the revival of the Esprit brand in Europe” and wants to “initiate a new era”, it says on request. The question of whether there will be ESPRIT products in Germany again in the future was not answered.

What remains of the fashion group? Esprit and Theia Brands could not provide any information about the current number of remaining branches in Europe and worldwide. Other European ESPRIT state companies such as in Austria, Switzerland and Belgium also slipped into bankruptcy last year.

Years ago, Esprit was still a moderate one. At high times in 2010/2011, according to the retail research institute EHI, the company operated more than 1,100 of its own branches worldwide, in 2023 there were only almost 150. In addition, there were also numerous franchise stores until the end. The shops in Germany guided by independent entrepreneurs were either closed in the course of bankruptcy or switched to other brands.

The main company of the group, the Esprit Holding, sits in Hong Kong. However, Germany was the most important market. In the meantime, the fashion group in Germany had around 170 own shops. The first was opened in Cologne in 1986.