Bargain retailer Blokker cuts nearly 400 jobs

Retail chain Blokker is laying off 390 workers in another reorganization. The Blokker employees were called together on Friday morning to get the news, broadcaster NOS reports.

According to new CEO Rob Heesen, the measures taken last year were not "radical enough". Blokker needs to be modernized completely - from store layout to the letters on the facade. Blokker is also launching its own private label for, among other things, towels and bed linen, and the online store will be renewed. All in all these new measures will cost about 100 million euros.

"The world is changing rapidly We have to make tougher decisions", Heesen said. According to him, it is "really necessary" to stay "competitive and flexible". "The results have to improve and costs have to decrease."

Blokker reorganized last year for the first time since it was founded in 1896. Former CEO Jack Peters - resigned in June last year after a disagreement with the executive board - experimented with different store layouts in an effort to stop declining sales.