Decoration dealers on a budget
At Depot, 90 branches are at risk
March 26, 2024, 7:29 p.m
Depot has around 3,200 employees in German-speaking countries and more than 300 branches in Germany. However, the decorative retailer has slipped into the red in recent years. A savings program is intended to counteract this – many stores are on the brink.
The decoration retailer Depot has imposed a tough savings program. To this end, 90 of the more than 300 branches in Germany would be put to the test, said owner Christian Gries to the “Handelsblatt”. “We hope to be able to retain at least half of the branches at risk,” he continued. Many of the stores are currently not profitable and their leases are expiring. The future of many branches looks bleak, especially because Depot only wants to extend the lease if the landlords are willing to reduce rents. Depot is fully financed for the next twelve months.
“I firmly believe that we can do this if we all fight together,” Gries told the newspaper. But you have to face reality. Depot’s sales were 330 million euros last year, but according to Gries, it ended up being a loss. Before the Corona crisis, sales were 410 million euros. The 53-year-old recently took a leave of absence from the management and is personally running the company again. Depot has a total of 3,200 employees in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Gries explained the decline in sales with increased freight prices and purchasing reluctance after the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. The Houthi attacks in the Red Sea also caused delayed deliveries and lost sales.
Restructuring expert Rainer Schrems is supposed to help with austerity measures. He had already pushed forward the restructuring process at the Austrian depot subsidiary. Here, too, half of the 50 branches were to be closed. After negotiations with the landlords, only 10 branches were ultimately closed and 60 jobs were cut. In Germany, the company’s own logistics center is also to be sold and only half of the space is to be rented back.