Makro auction earns trustees 2 million euros

The inventory sale of the six Belgian Makro stores been completed, earning the bankrupt chain more than two million euros. Meanwhile, the abandoned stores look more and more derelict.

Sales ended

On Monday, the bankruptcy sale of the six Makro stores ended. Prospective buyers from all over the world came looking for bargains, as all the equipment and stocks – from shopping trolleys to a forklift truck – went under the hammer in an attempt to secure more money for the creditors. “More than 130,000 people visited the auction website. In total, people from 69 countries bid”, director Christophe Moyersoen of auction house Auctim Moyersoen told local newspaper Gazet van Antwerpen.

In total, the inventory auctions raised more than two million euros. The money will be used by the trustees to (partially) compensate creditors of bankrupt Makro Cash & Carry Belgium. However, creditors still have until 10 January 2024 to apply to the receivers. The international Metro chain, which still owns the six properties, does not yet know what to do with the stores, with external suggestions varying from a straightforward sale to another big-box retailer over a conversion into a retail park to an actual park or even a bus depot.

Buyers who collect their items at the shops this week, will find a growing pile of rubbish: at the car park of the Antwerp branch, fly-tipping is an increasing problem. The local newspaper even found open cans of motor oil there, possibly leaking into the drains. Property owner Wholesale Real Estate Belgium has promised the city of Antwerp to clean up the rubbish by the end of this month and to close off the car park.