Belgian fashion brands Cassis and Paprika are joined together as one brand with a stronger focus on plus-sizes. Nine Belgian stores – and possibly some abroad – will close, but the company is confident it can survive.
New capital
Following the application for a judicial reorganisation earlier this year, a Belgian court has approved the group’s restructuring plan. The retailer plans to focus even more strongly on the booming plus-size market, under the unified brand Cassis Paprika. The shareholders, founder Jacques Hayez and investment fund Mitiska, project a capital injection of 6.5 million euros.
However, the company does have to size down: nine Cassis shops in the immediate vicinity of a Paprika shop are closing. These are the branches in Brussels (Anspach and Basilix), Kuurne, La Louvière, Liège (Belle-Ile), Sint-Niklaas, Tournai, Wavre and Wijnegem. The Cassis brand will remain present in the more than 45 remaining Cassis Paprika shops and on the group’s websites. Additionally, some positions will disappear at the headquarters: a total of 66 jobs would be threatened in Belgium.
Some shops abroad would also close, but the company stresses in a press release that it will be able to keep most of its shops open – there are still 121 in Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands – and that 90 % of the jobs will be saved. According to Belgian newspaper De Tijd, the relaunch means that the “old” company goes bankrupt and the remaining shops continue in a new company. As a result, no collective redundancies will follow and the Wallonie Entreprendre investment fund, which only recently became a shareholder, has already lost its investment.
