Belgian branch Free Record Shop saved completely

End to uncertainty about Belgian branch

The
electronics chain was declared bankrupt at the end of May, because it had picked up too late on the rising number of downloads of music and films through
the internet. The chain has about seventy locations in Belgium, including the stores of subsidiary Game Mania.

All these
shops were originally bought by investment fund ProCures, but the shops had to
return the stores. It also did not follow up on its agreement to give a loan of
seven million euro to the remainder of Dutch shops of Free Record Shop.

The caretakers also
discovered that ProCures imputed an amount of 750,000 euro on the Belgian
branch during the time the investment company was in charge. Additionally, a number of
candidate buyers insisted with the curators to put both branches (Dutch and
Belgian) in one package.

Dutch branch will have to be reduced

In the
Netherlands Free Record Shop had 141 locations, but dozens of those have already been
closed in the past few weeks. The rest were kept open by former employees, rehired
as temporary workforce, in anticipation of a possible restart. The shops did not receive any
new products: only what was in stock could be sold, resulting in severe sales drops.

How many
shops and jobs will be saved in the Netherlands will be revealed on Monday, when
the caretakers will give more information and the name of the buyer. The Belgian
shops and employees need not worry: their branch is probably more than safe.