2024-04-05 19:12:24
He died on Easter Sunday: The shoe entrepreneur Ludwig Görtz is dead. He withdrew from the company in the wake of bankruptcy in 2022.
Ludwig Görtz is dead. The former boss of the shoe store chain of the same name died on Easter Sunday at the age of 89. The “Hamburger Abendblatt” initially reported. The news of his death initially only spread unofficially. Further details have not yet been made public.
In 1875, his great-grandfather Johann Ludwig Görtz founded the first shoe store in the Barmbek district of Hamburg. Over the years, the small company developed into a Germany-wide corporation. At its peak, Görtz employed around 3,000 people at 200 locations.
“Life’s work falters”
The company had already encountered its first crisis in 2013. Ludwig Görtz took responsibility and was only able to keep the company afloat with a cash injection worth millions. An investor later got involved. But 60 percent of the shoe retailer remained family-owned. Management changes and restructuring brought Görtz back into a stable position.
However, Görtz subsequently withdrew from operational management. However, he remained connected to the company. But during Corona, the company had to file for bankruptcy. “My life’s work has faltered,” he told the “Abendblatt” at the time.
The Görtz family withdrew completely from the company in the wake of the bankruptcy in 2022. After that, Görtz himself was hardly seen in public.