On Tuesday it was announced that 23 of the 40 branches of the furniture store chain Kika/Leiner were closing. The three upper Styrian branches in Liezen, Judenburg and Leoben as well as the Kika in Feldbach are also affected. “This is a heavy blow for the region,” says one mayor. Dozens of people lose their jobs.
Anyone who has ever left the autobahn in Leoben knows it: the large Kika furniture store. “The parking lot there was almost always full and the business was very popular,” says Mayor Kurt Wallner (SPÖ), who was surprised by the plans to close. “This is very unfortunate and incomprehensible. This is a heavy blow for the region as a whole. There are heartless people at work who only look at the numbers.” Wallner is now hoping for a good social plan for the employees – “or that there is another solution with a successor.” “No one has contacted the city” In addition to the branch in Leoben, those in Liezen and the large Leiner in Judenburg should also have no future. Mayor Andrea Heinrich (SPÖ) from Liezen did not receive any advance warning about the plans: “It is very bad for us. There are a number of jobs at this location. Nobody contacted me. Unfortunately, if the company management has decided in this way, we probably won’t be able to do anything. “How many Styrian jobs will be affected was not yet clear on Tuesday afternoon.
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