Retail chain Blokker bailed out with financing from U.S. lender Gordon Brothers

Beleaguered Dutch retailer Blokker has reached an agreement with a American firm on a critical financing plan that has secured the future of the chain for at least the next few years. The new three-year loan from Gordon Brothers will allow Blokker to finance its plans in the coming years, and means parent company Mirage Retail Group will not have to sell off the business.

"The sale of Blokker is therefore no longer an option," said Mirage Retail Group CEO Ynse Stapert. He called the deal "very important," and said he "is now facing the future of Blokker with confidence."

Blokker has more than 400 stores and over 4,000 employees in the Netherlands, but the company has been in a bind lately. Three top executives left the retail chain in just a few months, which was interpreted as a sign that the company desperately needs money.

Mirage took over the chain from the Blokker family in 2019. It was loss-making at the time, but Mirage announced last October that Blokker was no longer in the red. "We mainly look at the operational results, which is zero for Blokker this year," the company said at the time.

But money was still needed for the coming years. Stapert said in February that Mirage was "doing everything it can to safeguard the continuity of Blokker." He was also considering selling the company, which is nearly 130 years old, and had already approached "a select group of possible buyers."

The new three-year loan from Gordon Brothers was closed because the American lender was willing to provide special working capital financing based on the retailer's stock. More money will be made available as Blokker builds up additional stock for the busier fourth quarter. "Dutch banks were not prepared to do that in our situation," said Stapert.

Mirage is also behind the Intertoys and Miniso chains in the Netherlands. The company previously indicated it also wanted to sell Intertoys, but ultimately decided against it. Last month, Mirage announced that Intertoys had taken out multi-year financing with Rabobank.

Mirage was also the owner of electronics chain BCC, which went bankrupt last year. It was not possible to make that chain financially healthy again.

According to Stapert, the situations of BCC and Blokker are not comparable. Blokker still attracts many visitors, he said. By focusing more on its home brand products, the chain is also working to increase margins. Blokker also wants to continue developing the balance between online and offline sales in the coming years. In the longer term, Stapert thinks the company may also look at expanding the number of stores again.