The Blokker family has decided to sell its shares in its namesake stores. Talks are currently underway, the brand's spokesperson confirmed, following a statement by the Commissioners’ Chairman, Michiel Witteveen in Het Financieele Dagblad.
The transaction would be accompanied by the closing of hundreds of stores and the axing of nearly 2,000 jobs. Besides Blokker stores, this also concerns the Big Bazaar and Maxi Toys chain stores.
In recent years, Blokker repositioned itself on the market, having decided to focus only on Blokker stores. The other chains, such as Leen Bakker, Intertoys and Xenos, were sold, and Marskramer was reduced to franchised outlets.
In Belgium, Blokker had decided end of 2016 to close 63 of the 190 stores throughout the territory, thus axing 279 out of 900 jobs. Blokker Belgium showed a turnover of 86.8 million euros for the 2017-2018 fiscal year, which is down by 21% compared to the previous year.
The Brussels Times
