Dutch Esprit branch files for bankruptcy

After the Belgian and French divisions, Esprit is now also liquidating its Dutch branch. Following the current procedure (which is protection against creditors), the current business activities will be terminated.

Liquidation

The Dutch branch of Esprit (operating under the name NLEB) applied for the protection at the Amsterdam court yesterday, on the grounds that it no longer had sufficient funds to keep going, the parent company explained in a press release.

Esprit says it has no control any more on future proceedings. The website is currently still active, but it is currently unknown whether the shops will remain open. However, Esprit does hint that the end is near in the Netherlands: NLEB will be liquidated after the completion of the bankruptcy proceedings and the current business activities of NLEB will be terminated.

The Dutch branch (including both retail and wholesale operations) accounted for 46.7 million euros in sales, 6.8 % of Esprit’s total turnover. However, the fashion group has long been struggling and plans to significantly restructure its European operations: all loss-making shops are to be closed, after which there will be a sole focus on wholesale and e-commerce. Esprit is also said to have plans to open a new European distribution centre in the Netherlands. To achieve this turnaround, the company is looking for an external investor, but previous candidates dropped out.