Euro Shoe Groep, the company behind the shoe chain Bristol, received protection from creditors in June. The company had been in crisis mode for years. It suffered from store closures during the corona crisis and rising rent and energy costs. In 2022, the tide seemed to turn, with the first operating profit in years, but since the autumn of 2023 things went downhill again. Bankruptcy could no longer be averted, but a buyer was found for 74 stores.
The transfer of the stores will take place on Monday and the protection against creditors will also end. “Bankruptcy will be filed for the rest of the company in the near future,” says Lore Vanaudenhove, chief marketing officer at the shoe group.
This concerns the head office and the logistics centre in Beringen and the remaining 43 stores. As a result, 162 people will lose their jobs at the head office and the logistics centre. People will also lose their jobs in the closing stores. On average, there are about 2 to 3 people working per store.
74 stores acquired
In a statement, CEO Elise Vanaudenhove thanked the staff. “Since it became clear that there was no future for Bristol, we have done everything we could to close it as well as possible and save as many jobs as possible. Of course, every job that is lost is one too many, but we are pleased that 62 independent agents and their teams and 8 employees from our head office can participate in a new story. I would like to thank all our employees and agents for their years of dedication and the beautiful moments we have experienced together.”
The majority of the stores (62) will be taken over by the French shoe chain Chaussea: 44 in Flanders and 18 in Wallonia. Chaussea offered 2 million euros, plus ten percent of the net purchase price of the stock present in the stores.
Another 10 stores will be taken over by the German chain TEDi Distribution (in Wallonia) and another 2 by Redisco (the store in Blankenberge) and Torfs (Houthalen) respectively. The takeovers would save 250 jobs.
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100th anniversary
Bristol is the brand of the Beringse Euro Shoe Group of the Vanaudenhove family, founded in 1925. The company therefore just missed its 100th anniversary. The period of protection against creditors was used to sell off the stocks as much as possible and to look for possible takeover candidates for the stores.
For the time being, it is not entirely clear which branches will be taken over and which will not. The unions, who were heard by the corporate judge during the court hearing on Friday, have not filed any objections. “We had hoped for the takeover of a larger number of stores and the toll that the employees at the head office are paying is heavy. But this decision already offers certainty to some 250 employees in the branches,” says secretary Mary-Anne Smeets of BBTK.
Chaussea largest acquirer
Chaussea has the largest number of Bristol stores. The French chain was founded in 1984 by Frenchman Gaëtan Grieco. The company currently has 570 stores in Europe, mainly in France, Belgium and Luxembourg. According to the company website, Chaussea has a turnover of 500 million euros. The company sells 22 million shoes a year and has around 4,000 employees. Chaussea, like Bristol, is known for its very low prices.
According to the verdict, the French are already planning to invest heavily in its new stores: 20 million in new stock and 35 million in the renovation of the stores.