With the bankruptcy of the ailing furniture chain Kika/Leiner, the last two remaining Styrian branches in Graz are also closing, affecting 160 employees. The Leiner location near the main station is particularly legendary. It is a serious setback for the already crisis-ridden district.
The glory days are long gone, when Annenstrasse in Graz was one of Austria’s main shopping streets in the 1970s. This golden decade also saw the opening of the Leiner furniture store in 1971, a first of its kind in the state capital. Three years later, Kika opened a branch in Graz-Webling.
Now the final end of this furniture shopping era in Graz has been sealed. As announced on Wednesday, the furniture chain Kika/Leiner, which has been in trouble for years, has withdrawn the restructuring plan submitted in November and filed for bankruptcy. After four Kika/Leiner branches in Styria were closed last year as a result of the first bankruptcy, the last two remaining branches in Graz are now following suit.
160 employees lose their jobs
“Unfortunately, this was to be expected; it was foreseeable from the basic structure,” says Norbert Schunko, state manager of the GPA union, not surprisingly. About 160 employees are affected. “We stand behind our guns and will of course hold meetings again and inform those affected about their claims,” says Schunko.
More than 280 employees were affected during the latest closures in Styria. “Of these, 19 are still unemployed. Many were also taken over by XXXLutz,” the trade unionist explains. Job searches will likely become more difficult for those workers now affected.
What happens to the buildings?
It will also be exciting to see what will happen to the huge buildings on Annenstrasse and Weblinger Kreis. It was only in 2020 that the Kika branch with approximately 20,000 square meters of exhibition space was extensively renovated. Leiner, with approximately 15,500 square feet, celebrated its grand reopening in 2016 after an extensive modernization. In 2013, a major fire and explosions during construction work on the Leiner roof caused a stir.
Now, more than ten years later, Kika/Leiner is on fire again – if only literally. The liquidator determines exactly when the branches close. First of all, they will try to get as much of the goods for sale as possible.
Above all, the end is a heavy blow for Leiner, as the once flourishing Annenstrasse has been in crisis for years. Directly opposite, the Annenpassage has been closed for years and its future use is completely unclear.
XXXLutz buys two locations in Styria
Last year, four Kika/Leiner branches in Styria were closed as part of the first bankruptcy. What happened to them? Well, furniture giant XXXLutz has taken over the former Kika location in Liezen and the Leiner location in Judenburg, spokesperson Thomas Saliger confirmed to ‘Krone’. An evaluation is currently underway to determine what to do with the two properties.
There was a Kika house in Leoben. This was purchased by the busy online auction house Aurena from neighboring Niklasdorf and is currently used as a warehouse. A lot has also happened in Feldbach, where local entrepreneur Erwin Teller bought the Kika. A Hervis sales branch is now located here.
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.
