The French shoe retailer Chaussea will acquire 62 stores of the budget chain Bristol in Belgium.
Another 12 Bristol locations will be taken over by different chains, while the remaining stores face bankruptcy.
Chaussea, known for selling affordable shoes similar to how Primark and Kiabi operate in the clothing sector, has made a bid worth 2 million euros, along with 10 percent of the net purchase price of Bristol’s current stock.
German chain TEDi Distribution will acquire ten stores in Wallonia, while shoe retailers Redisco and Torfs will each take over one location.
Bristol’s financial struggles led to its decline, resulting in the loss of around 770 jobs across Belgium and the Netherlands. Despite efforts by the Vanaudenhove family to turn the nearly 100-year-old chain around, the company has been unprofitable since 2016.
While there was some improvement by 2022, the economic downturn and inflation in early 2023 sealed Bristol’s fate.
