The German Otto Group is closing its Dutch division due to “significant operational losses and poor economic prospects.” On the website, the retailer announces a “final sale.”
Focus on German-speaking market
Otto Group is ending all commercial activities in the Dutch market, the retailer confirmed to German trade magazine Lebensmittel Zeitung. The restructuring will affect seventy employees. It is still unclear when the operations will be definitively shut down: at the moment, the webshops otto.nl and lascana.nl are still online, but the retailer is already announcing a “final sale.” Unlike the German branch, the Dutch webshop is not a platform but a classic online store.
Last year, Otto had announced that the Dutch subsidiary would merge with its sibling from Austria and Switzerland with an eye on synergy and economies of scale, but now it appears the group wants to fully focus on the German-speaking markets. Otto has also announced a cost-saving program in Germany, which will eliminate around 500 call centre jobs.
