In January, the company filed for bankruptcy with its three branches. Grandits owed a total of 1.9 million euros to 87 creditors. The reasons for the bankruptcy were: Declines in sales due to the corona pandemic, but also declining frequencies due to the high inflation called. But things are now moving on for one of the three branches.
The former branch manager Anton Volemann has taken over the men’s outfitter on Alser Straße. Together with an investor who had been a Grandits customer for more than 25 years, he bought the business from the insolvency estate in order to continue running it independently. The branches on Nussdorfer Straße and Rotenthurmstraße remain closed.
“I live for this business”
“Mr. Toni” (as his regular customers call him) was employed at Grandits for 37 years, 25 of them as manager of the branch on Alser Straße. “After completing my apprenticeship as a retail clerk in Linz, I came to Vienna and then simply stayed here at Grandits,” says Volemann. He took over the store because, as he says, nothing else was an option for him. “I live for this business,” said Volemann.
After he took over, the external appearance and logo were modernized. The website is also currently under construction. The trained retail salesman can continue to employ the store’s four employees in his new company. The ten employees of the other two branches that Volemann did not take over had to leave as part of the closures. The new owner is not planning any other major changes either. “The business here was functioning before the bankruptcy,” says Volemann. Unlike the branch in the inner city, the shop on Alser Strasse has always been lucrative.
Customers save on clothing
Nevertheless, times are not exactly easy at the moment, says Volemann. The crises have made many people more cautious and saving money – including on clothing. Volemann still hopes to be able to benefit from Grandits’ many regular customers and good name. “I hope that the regular customers of the closed branches will continue to go to Grandits,” Volemann tells the KURIER.
His target group is men between 18 and 60 years old. 80 percent of his customers are loyal regular customers. In terms of price, Volemann classifies his business as “medium to premium”. From 400 euros you can get a wool quality suit from Grandits. But you can wear this for several years, says Volemann. “M”It’s important that clothing doesn’t become a disposable item, but rather that you can enjoy it for a long time,” says Volemann.
“Street Beautifier”
Volemann is not afraid of the men’s outfitter going bankrupt again: “If I had that, then I wouldn’t be allowed to do this here at all.” Nevertheless, he sees a threat to businesses like his from the ever-growing online trade – and not just from an economic perspective: “I call myself a street beautifier. I care that the display looks good and that the sidewalk is clean. And it “It’s not nice for a city when the shops are dying out and the streets are full of empty shops,” says Volemann.