Carpetright Belgium is filing for bankruptcy. The 65 employees of the Belgian branch were summoned to the company’s headquarters this morning and informed that the company is ceasing operations. The flooring chain's 16 shops stayed closed this morning and its web shop also remains shut.
The chain's UK parent company ran into difficulties earlier this summer. The company was taken over, but hundreds of stores in the UK had to close as a result threatening over 1,000 jobs.
‘It was a particularly short meeting,’ says Johan Van Loon of the Christian union ACV Puls. ‘ACV Puls has been raising questions with the management about continuity for some time. Because most shops were loss-making, we knew the situation was precarious.’
‘Despite repeated assurances from the management that the collapse of Carpetright UK would not affect our business, it now appears that these claims were unfounded.’
The chain Carpetright, formerly Carpetland, mainly sold floor coverings. ‘The company has had a good reputation for many years,’ says Van Loon. ‘But of course nowadays you also have stores that are more into decoration and offer living concepts. In that context Carpetright's concept had become a bit too narrow.’
‘Unfortunately, the shops and the web shop have closed,’ the Carpetright website states. ‘More information with regard to ongoing orders will be displayed on the website in the coming days.’ The company also states that it is currently not possible to respond to emails or phones.