Casa‘s Dutch shops remained closed on Wednesday morning, as the retailer’s Dutch branch was declared bankrupt on Tuesday – a logical consequence of the earlier bankruptcy of its parent company in Belgium.
‘The staff are appalled’
A month ago, Casa Netherlands’ works council had already filed for bankruptcy because wages had not been paid and shops were no longer being supplied. Soon thereafter, employees were eventually paid, but now the company itself has filed for bankruptcy.
It did so without consulting the works council, which led to outrage: “The staff are appalled. We knew bankruptcy was coming, but we did not expect it to go this way“, Allard Lamers, chairman of the works council, told RTL. According to him, the company should have pulled the plug much earlier. Wages for April will be paid by the UWV (Employee Insurance Administration Agency).
Major uncertainty
It is not yet known whether a liquidation sale will follow. The administrator has set a two-month cooling-off period, in which no goods may leave the company. This is because it is not clear who legally owns the stock.
Casa went bankrupt in Belgium in March, leading to the closure of the 63 Belgian shops, as well as the head office and distribution centre from where all foreign branches were supplied. The decoration chain also recently sought protection from creditors in France. The fate of shops in Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland is still unclear.
