At Kika/Leiner, 1,900 jobs will be cut. At the end of July, the affected locations will close permanently and many houses will have already been ‘evacuated’. Forstinger’s future is still unclear.
The restructuring process at Kika/Leiner continues. According to company spokesman Michael Slamanig, 1,900 jobs will be cut. As is well known, René Benko’s Signa Group was sold after high losses, despite subsidies from taxpayers. This led to a heated discussion in Austria about a new wealth tax.
Gastronomy in branches is also eliminated
1,034 employees in the 23 branches that will be closed have already been terminated by the AMS. In the course of July, those affected from the central administration, logistics, etc. will be registered. In addition, numerous employees have already left the company. Since the gastronomy of the closing branches is also no longer available (six have already closed), another 118 people will lose their jobs there.
Within three days there were 15,000 vacancies on a job platform specially created for this purpose, Slamanig tries to express hope. Money comes from an emergency fund for older or disabled employees.
In any case, sales started very quickly. Some furniture stores have already been “cleared out” and are closing before the planned closure (July 31). Up to 80 percent off should still attract customers in recent weeks.
Continuation of Forstinger depends on the appraiser
The receiver of car accessories chain Forstinger has appointed an expert to investigate the possible continuation. According to reports, two thirds of the 87 locations should do well. Last year, a turnover of 100 million euros was generated. The owners want to continue after the debt has been settled. It is unclear how many of the 552 jobs will be lost.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
