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It’s been exactly a week since home electronics retailer Steg announced its closure. 17 branches and online stores were suddenly closed. 80 employees lost their jobs in Switzerland. 50 more in Germany and Slovakia. Management goes to the dive station and does not answer any questions. There is only a dry notification on the home page.
Former regular customers contact Blick. Sometimes he makes serious accusations. The service has become terrible. There were not enough staff left in the branches and competent technicians were laid off. Suppliers are no longer paying. And: Bankruptcy had been evident for months.
“Sales have been falling for 10 years”
Faced with these allegations, founder Lorenz Weber (43) eventually contacted Blick. He defends himself. “This is a huge shock and difficult moment for everyone. “We are currently working day and night to keep the damage as small as possible and to support and accompany employees as much as we can,” he says. And he adds: “I founded the company 25 years ago when I was a student. And I wished for a different ending. “We will soon run out of money and be legally forced to deposit the balance.”
However, you shouldn’t only see the negatives. “We managed to employ up to 200 people. And it has paid over 100 million in salaries in the last 10 years. We can be proud of that.”
Regarding the personnel allegations, he says: “The last time we had 5-6 employees in the branches was eight years ago.” A major savings program was implemented in April to respond to low sales. “Branch business is generally difficult, sales have been falling for 10 years. Just not with us.” Weber says it’s OK to save money.
“Not a single sanction was imposed”
Suppliers were paid in full. This is important for Steg’s founder. “Not a single enforcement action had been taken until the day of the shutdown,” says Weber. They believed in the solution until the end. That’s why a branch was opened in Schlieren ZH a week before the end. “We had many conversations with potential buyers and investors.”
In vain, as we now see. The cancellation of the loans ultimately broke the company’s neck. Weber: “It reached nearly 7 million in 4 months!” he explains. And he emphasizes: “We support employees so they can find a new job in the best possible way.” Despite the difficult situation, harmony in the company is still good.
Source :Blick
I’m Tim David and I work as an author for 24 Instant News, covering the Market section. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, my mission is to provide accurate, timely and insightful news coverage that helps our readers stay informed about the latest trends in the market. My writing style is focused on making complex economic topics easy to understand for everyone.
