2024-08-15 07:57:47
The insolvency administrator cannot save the Augsburg-based online bookseller. The losses and costs are too high. The employees are being laid off.
The insolvent online bookseller Weltbild will cease operations permanently at the end of August. The provisional insolvency administrator Christian Plail announced that the company’s 14 branches would still be holding clearance sales and would then be closed. Online purchases would still be delivered until the end of the month. The 440 employees will receive their notices of termination in September.
The company filed for bankruptcy in June at the Augsburg District Court. Plail said: “Due to the ongoing loss situation, a permanent and sustainable continuation of operations is not possible without fresh capital.” The IT and marketing costs and the time required are too high to be able to continue the company profitably.
Investors were not prepared to take over the company, even to a limited extent, given the necessary investments and costs in an already competitive market. However, there is interest in trademark rights and inventory. These discussions will continue.
Weltbild emerged from the Catholic Church’s company of the same name. Ten years ago, the then publishing group Weltbild in Augsburg went bankrupt.