Esprit closing all 56 shops in Germany, cutting 1,300 jobs

The global fashion retailer Esprit plans to close all of its 56 shops in Germany by the end of the year and some 1,300 employees will lose their jobs, dpa learned on Friday.

The brand rights for the insolvent European business are to be sold to the British financial investor Alteri, which owns the fashion company CBR Fashion with the brands Street One and Cecil.

Esprit did not want to give any details about the purchase price. Alteri will not take over Esprit's operational business, but the brand is be continued in the foreseeable future, according to the statement. Products under the label will continue to be manufactured and sold in Germany - it is not yet known in what form.

Esprit Europe GmbH and six other group companies of the fashion group filed for insolvency under self-administration in May and the legal proceedings started in a local Dusseldorf court on August 1.

The company is the parent firm for Esprit in Germany, France, Belgium, Austria, the Scandinavian countries, Poland and the United Kingdom. Purchasing and sales are organized in various European subsidiaries and sub-subsidiaries.

The Esprit fashion group had already applied for protective measures for several German companies in 2020, which allowed it to reorganize. At that time, around 50 shops in Germany were closed and around 1,100 jobs were cut.

Esprit is active in around 40 countries worldwide and has its main headquarters in Ratingen, Germany and Hong Kong. Businesses outside Europe are not affected by the insolvency. Germany was the most important market for the group.