Vögele closes branches

Footwear retailer Karl Vögele AG uses the red pencil in Switzerland. The traditional company plans to close larger-scale branches, as CEO Max Bertschinger confirmed in a statement to AWP on Friday.

“Blick.ch” had previously reported the closure of more than 60 of the 160 branches. “The total of 60 branches mentioned is an approximate figure that we cannot confirm,” the statement read. Some of the closures affect the branches of the bingo shoe. The future of some of the locations is still being negotiated. Another part will be converted by the owner.

The owner of the company does not provide definitive information on the effects on the number of jobs. One is in negotiations with the works council. “There are only a very small number of layoffs and there are no mass layoffs,” Bertschinger emphasized. There is a social plan that will apply until 2022.

“This year there were almost no layoffs and 80 percent of all employees in branches that were closed were able to continue working at other locations.” The remaining employees would be retired or reoriented at personal request.

The Karl Vögele Group, which has been majority owned by the Polish CCC Group since June 2018, has been suffering from declining sales for a long time. Competition from online retailers like Zalando is fierce, and this year the corona pandemic is making Switzerland’s second-largest footwear retailer even more difficult.

“Closing branches is a strategic decision and it also has to do with the fact that Karl Vögele AG has to say goodbye to some classic sales channels,” continued the head of the company. “Furthermore, the

Sales are not proceeding as requested, so certain branches can no longer operate profitably. “

The restructuring started a year and a half ago has already been largely completed, he said. The next step is to optimize the branch network and focus on the Vögele Shoes sales channel. In the last two years, about two-thirds of all branches have been closed. Due to the closings, the evolution of sales in 2020 is no longer comparable to the previous year.

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