Dutch retail problems put 16,000 jobs at risk

The week before Christmas was tough on the retail sector in the Netherlands. On Tuesday both Macintosh, owner Scapino, Dolcis and Manfield, and V&D filed for suspension of payment. On Wednesday the drugstores DA Retail Group was added to the list. All in all some 16 thousand jobs are at risk, given that suspension of payment is nearly always followed by bankruptcy. At DA a total of 212 jobs may be disappearing - about 180 at the head office and another 30 at seven of the group's own stores, NRC reports. There are 266 DA stores in the Netherlands, but most of them are owned by franchisees and the suspension of payment does not affect them. A spokesperson for DA stated that all stores will remain open for the time being. The middle-priced stores in the Netherlands have a difficult year behind them. Over the past year clothing stores Mexx and Etam and shoe stores like Schoenenreus and House of Shoes all went bankrupt. Hema and Blokker survived the year, but are faced with millions of losses. According to the newspaper, this can partly be attributed to outdated store formats no longer being in line with the buying habits of customers, who are increasingly purchasing over the internet.