Interior design chain Casa is filing for bankruptcy. 544 employees risk losing their jobs as a result. The 63 Belgian shops and the distribution centre in Olen (Antwerp Province) will close. The company had been in financial difficulty for some time and today it can no longer pay its debts.
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Interior design chain Casa files for bankruptcy: 63 shops close, 544 jobs at risk
Colin Clapson
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The bankruptcy affects 544 employees, working in one of the stores or at the distribution centre in Olen. All shops will close, the company stated in a press release, as will its distribution centre and head office.
Casa also runs stores abroad, including in the Netherlands, France, Luxembourg, Spain and Switzerland. ‘These shops will remain open. For now, we cannot draw any conclusions about what will happen there,’ said CEO Vincent Nolf.
The CEO blames the bankruptcy partly on increased labour costs. ‘Look at the last 3 years. Labour costs have increased by 20 per cent,’ says CEO Nolf. ‘If sales remain stable or even decline at the same time, it becomes very difficult.’
Not unexpected
The filing for bankruptcy was not unexpected. The group has been in financial straits for some time. In 2024, the group sold or closed more than 45 shops in Belgium and abroad. Last October, Casa initiated proceedings before the Turnhout commercial court seeking protection from creditors.
‘This unfortunately did not lead to the intended result,’ the company said today. Casa sought additional funding and talked with 12 different parties, but ultimately none proved willing to embark upon any of the possible relaunch scenarios.
According to Christian trade union ACV Puls, the trustees will look for possible candidates ‘to take over part of the Casa business’. ‘But if the management failed to find them, there is little chance that they will now be found by the receivers,’ says union official Johan Van Loon. ‘We have to assume the worst, which is that it is over and out for the workers.’
Belgian origins
Originally Belgian, Casa was owned by the Dutch Blokker Family for more than 30 years. In April 2021, the family sold the chain to the Amsterdam-based investment group Globitas, after Casa had already filed for protection from its creditors in 2020 - at the start of the pandemic – seeking to reschedule debts as well.
In April 2024, it emerged that Casa had become the property of the Swedish-Lebanese businessman Ayad Al-Saffar: he bought a majority stake from Globitas through the holding company AAS Retail. Mr Al-Saffar also brought in Dutchman Frank Pruijn as commercial director of the interior design chain. However, when the opportunity to buy Belgian department store chain Inno presented itself shortly afterwards, Mr Al-Saffar lost interest in Casa. AAS Retail sold the business to Mr Pruijn in June 2024.