Harold Versteeg

36 of the 81 Belgian Wibra stores saved from closure

The discount clothing retailer Wibra’s Belgian operation to is relaunch after all. Previously it had been announced that all 81 of the Dutch discounter’s Belgian stores would close with the loss of 439 jobs. 

On Friday Wibra’s Dutch bosses reached an agreement with the three official receivers appointed to wind up the company’s Belgian operation that will mean that almost half of its shops in Belgium will be given a reprieve. This will also mean that 183 of the retailer’s 439 staff won’t have to start looking for a new job.  

While Wibra is still performing well in The Netherlands, its Belgian operation has been running at a loss for several years now. Measures were taken by the company to try an turn the tide last year. However, the coronavirus crisis with the lockdown from mid-March to early May made things go from bad to worse for Wibra. Nevertheless, funding now appears to have been found to relaunch the chain’s Belgian operation, albeit in a slimmed-down version. 

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