As of: March 27, 2024, 4:13 p.m
By: Bettina Menzel
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The showroom of a furniture store (symbolic image).
© MAGO / Westend61
A design specialist is broke.
The insolvency proceedings are scheduled to open on April 1st - around 80 employees will soon lose their jobs.
Gelnhausen - It's bitter news for the employees: The insolvency proceedings for Ikarus GmbH will open on April 1st, as the
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ)
reported on Tuesday (March 26th).
The design retailer from Gelnhausen in Hesse had previously desperately searched for an investor - in vain.
Around 80 employees now have to look for a new job.
Some of them have been with the company for 30 years.
Ikarus is bankrupt: design retailer couldn't find an investor
Just last year, Ikarus celebrated its 30th anniversary and looked forward to “the next 30 years” on its homepage. But the design business is now coming to an abrupt end.
The peak of the Corona years seems to be a long way off: During the pandemic, many people placed more importance on redesigning their homes.
The furniture industry benefited.
According to the FAZ
, the online retailer Ikarus achieved
sales of 35 million euros in 2021 and 34 million in the following year.
In the second half of 2023, the design specialist's revenues fell by 30 to 40 percent.
According to company founder and owner Volker Hohmann, the reason for this was also the war in Ukraine.
As a result, the conditions in the industry have deteriorated dramatically, the businessman told the
FAZ
.
Inflation, high energy prices and increased paper costs were causing problems for the company.
The rainy summer and the resulting slump in purchases of balcony and garden furniture put an additional strain on Ikarus last year.
The company laid off 20 people and reduced the offerings in the catalogs.
But it didn't help.
An investor was also not found.
Bankruptcy is now official.
Ikarus furniture store: Insolvency proceedings cause dissatisfaction among customers
Customers had already felt the effects of Ikarus' problems at the beginning of the year, as
FAZ
reported.
Orders took longer than usual.
The preliminary insolvency proceedings were opened in January and customers were also informed.
Some who had made advance payments came to the furniture store in Frankfurt and vented their anger, the responsible specialist lawyer for insolvency and restructuring law, Nicolaus Ackermann, reported to the
FAZ
.
“Unpleasant scenes” took place – some people wanted to take something else with them in return for goods that were not delivered.
But both customers and other creditors get their money back, if at all, via the insolvency table.
The exact amount involved was not clear on Tuesday.
The business climate in German retail has recently deteriorated again.
Furniture stores, hardware stores and bicycle dealers in particular complain about a worsening situation, as shown by the business climate index in retail.
According to the Ifo Institute, this fell from minus 15.2 points in January to minus 18 points in February.