Garant Schuh + Mode has come out of the biggest insolvency in German history since a new law governing this kind of case was enacted in 1999. The insolvency court in Düsseldorf decided that the international German-based buying group is now viable enough to stand on its own feet, thanks to its recent positive financial results, to several equity increases and to the creditors’ forgiveness of a large part of the outstanding debt.
Friedrich Wilhelm Metzeler, the court-appointed administrator who has accompanied and supervised the insolvency proceedings since they started on Sept. 7, 2004, will continue to be involved for a while as chief executive of Erste Amplificator, a company that now owns 76 percent of Garant. This shareholding should be transferred to one or more strategic investors by the month of March.
Garant is now forecasting a 5 percent sales increase for this year, driven by positive developments in foreign European markets. France and the Netherlands are among them. In the year ended last Nov. 30, its centralized settlements grew by 3.9 percent to €753.3 million.
The buying group also hopes to win back some suppliers who have stayed away during the insolvency proceedings, and to win over some new affiliated retailers. It currently works with more than 2,100 contractual suppliers and with about 3,500 retailers that own more than 5,200 stores all over Europe.
A big effort is being made to apply to Belgium, Germany and Switzerland the successful niche strategies implemented by Garant in the sporting goods market in the Netherlands through Fairplay International Sports' Soccer Centers. On top of a Snow Center, it has also launched a Hockey Center concept in the Netherlands (more in Shoe Intelligence).
