Hot summer spells the end for CoolCat

Dutch fashion chain CoolCat is filing for bankruptcy: its eighty Dutch stores and their 1,100 jobs are in jeopardy after the hot summer and warm winter pushed down sales. Stores in Belgium, France and Luxembourg are not involved in the bankruptcy.

Hot summer melts major chain

Shareholders of two Dutch companies, Cool Cat Fashion BV and Cool Cat Nederland BV, have filed for bankruptcy after suffering from the hot summer of 2018, followed by an extremely mild winter. Founder Ronald Kahn’s chain had been in a long battle with financial problems, but seemed to be on the up after last year saw losses cut in half and reportedly break-even was on the horizon.

However, the adverse weather conditions have hit CoolCat hard. “In the last few weeks and months, we have looked at all the possibilities to safeguard CoolCat’s future, including changes in the store concept and the way business is managed, but these possibilities have not yielded positive results”, the shareholders said in a press release. It is expected that the stores will remain open, but the webshop is already closed due to ‘technical reasons’.

The chain also has seventeen Belgian stores, and seven in France and two in Luxembourg. These would not be part of the bankruptcy, a press release says. Kahn’s other chains, including MS Mode and America Today, are also unaffected.