2024-07-16 21:29:46
The furniture chain Depot is insolvent. The owner wants to restructure the company.
Depot branches are a part of many German city centers. From glasses to garden figures, customers can find everything their interior design heart desires here. But the company is in dire financial straits – and on Tuesday it filed an application for protective shield proceedings, as the retail company Gries Deco Company GmbH announced in a statement. Depot and its 300 branches are part of the Gries Deco Company.
The application for protective shield proceedings is intended to protect the company from access by creditors and offer the opportunity for financial reorganization. Depot’s owner, Christian Gries, has decided to pursue this insolvency procedure under his own administration. In doing so, he wants to prevent impending insolvency and is taking on the challenge of a sustainable reorientation of the company. The focus here is particularly on cooperation with landlords and suppliers.
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To support the company in this task, a management team was appointed, consisting of Alexander Höpfner and the Frankfurt lawyer Sven Tischendorf. The latter is known for his involvement with the Real hypermarket chain, which continued under his leadership as “Mein Real” – albeit only for a short time. The chain then had to file for bankruptcy immediately and subsequently disappeared from the market.
Despite the current difficulties, business operations in Depot’s branches will continue without restrictions; the wages and salaries of employees in Germany are secured until September. Christian Gries was optimistic and stressed in an interview with the “Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung” that the protective shield procedure had been well prepared and deliberately chosen. He plans to involve all those involved – especially employees, landlords, suppliers and business partners – and to discuss the next steps together.