“Keep stores open to find buyer”
The judge has appointed Frits Kemp as the receiver, who said he aims to keep the stores open as long as possible. That should enable the stores to sell its remaining stock and (hopefully) attract buyers more easily.
The Dutch chain has 315 European stores and 1,500 employees, who will have to wait anxiously to see if the chain will live on after its bankruptcy.
Struggled for a while
The chain has struggled for a while: since founder Rattan Chadha left (in 2006), turnover has halved to some 500 million euro according to fd.nl. Part of that turnover drop can be explained because an increased number of store closures.
Another reason for Mexx’s decline was the growing influence on e-commerce on sales visit numbers. Still, the chain shut down its web shop earlier this year, reasoning – at the time – that it would soon release a new web shop that would be much improved.
