Stuttgart – The crisis continues to affect medium-sized businesses: Now a large specialist retailer for motorized equipment is insolvent: the forestry and gardening equipment specialist Endress had to file for bankruptcy. 260 employees in 20 branches in southern Germany are affected.
In a message to the workforce, senior boss Ulrich Endress called the move the “saddest moment in the more than 70-year history of our family business,” writes the Stuttgarter Zeitung. Shortly after the Second World War, his father Hans started selling chainsaws in the Black Forest. From this, Endress developed as a specialist trade association for forestry and… Garden technology with branches, workshops and online trading.
The logo of the Endress forestry and garden technology chain
The reasons for the retailer’s bankruptcy
But now his heirs filed for insolvency applications for Endress Motorgeräte GmbH in Stuttgart and Endress Bayern GmbH in Munich in the Stuttgart district court on March 4th. The wave of bankruptcy is hitting another traditional company that was defeated by cheap competition from the Far East. The trading company sells lawn mowers, chainsaws and other garden tools from renowned manufacturers such as Stihl, Husqvarna, John Deere and Honda.
“Despite our battle for survival for over a year, we have not managed to insolvency to prevent,” Ulrich Endress told the newspaper. The Stuttgart group of companies was unable to keep up with the cheap prices offered by the Chinese, who are flooding the market with battery-powered devices: “We have no chance,” said the senior partner.
Woman mowing the lawn: The specialist store chain sells devices from well-known manufacturers (symbolic photo)
Specialist store chain with branches in southern Germany
The medium-sized company was crushed between aggressive price pressure and high prices Costs: The warehouses were full and demand was subdued. Suppliers had supported the dealer group by taking back some of their goods, but the weak economy did not recover.
Now he has hope that at least the most viable of the 20 locations in Ulm, Nuremberg, Pfaffenhoffen, Weilheim and Schwäbisch Hall, among others, will be retained. The total of 260 employees have been informed and will receive insolvency money equal to their net wages for three months.