Possible solution for two thirds of Bristol’s Belgian stores

Two buyers may save up to 72 of the 115 Bristol shoe stores in Belgium. This will save some 150 jobs, but most positions at the Euro Shoe Group headquarters will be lost.

Tragedy for headquarters

One of the – currently unnamed – acquirers wants to take over 62 stores, plus the stock and thirteen employees at the headquarters. A second candidate would like to take over ten other stores, Belgian broadcaster VRT reports. The court has yet to approve the acquisitions.

If the 72 stores are saved, 150 employees could also keep their jobs. However, the future is looking bleaker at the headquarters of owner Euro Shoe Group in Beringen: almost all jobs will disappear there.

Bristol has been loss-making for years. In 2022, the tide seemed to turn, but the combination of high costs and bad weather killed the shoe store chain last year. Since the beginning of June, the retailer obtained protection from creditors. That judicial reorganisation applies only to the Belgian operations. There is no acquirer yet for the more than eighty Dutch stores.