Everything from 1 to 5 euros: shoe store Bristol starts clearance sale in Deurne (Deurne)

The 117 Belgian stores of Bristol, formerly known as Shoe Post and later Shoe Discount, are for sale. The chain is in serious financial trouble and is looking for a buyer. In the meantime, a sale has started in the stores.

“The store in Deurne is now the first where we are starting a clearance sale,” says Lore Vanaudenhouve, marketing director of Bristol. “There is still a lot of clothing in the store. Everything has to go now at prices of 1, 3 or 5 euros. About a third of the store is still full. When everything is gone, we will close the store. That will probably be in the coming days. We are organizing this clearance sale in Deurne because the independent operator has stopped. Bristol’s own staff is now being deployed in the store.”

The other Flemish stores of Bristol are still being replenished from the distribution center in Beringen in Limburg for the time being. In those other stores too, big discounts can be obtained, which can amount to seventy percent.

Negotiations on takeover

Meanwhile, negotiations with potential buyers of the Bristol stores are continuing. “I expect that we will be able to communicate more about this by the beginning of August,” says Lore Vanaudenhove.

Bristol ran into problems due to the closure of stores during the corona crisis, the sharp rise in rent and energy costs, the ailing economy and the bad weather, which caused customers to buy few spring and summer clothes and shoes. Expert Gino Van Ossel of the Vlerick Business School previously pointed out that Bristol also lacks scale. For example, competitor Van Haren is owned by the much larger German Deichmann Group, which can buy many more shoes at once, and can therefore get bigger discounts from suppliers.