Kika/Leiner Branches Close End of January

The insolvent furniture chain Kika/Leiner confirmed on Wednesday evening a "Standard" report about the closure of the Kika/Leiner branches. Plans to keep some locations open longer for the sale of remaining stock are no longer current. The company's employees have already been internally informed about this decision, according to the newspaper.

Kika/Leiner Insolvency: Claims can be registered until January 10

The sell-off in the branches has been ongoing since the company's bankruptcy in early December, with the restaurants in the individual furniture stores having closed at the turn of the year. Customers who have made down payments have been informed by liquidator Volker Leitner whether he will fulfill their contracts or not. However, Leitner did not want to comment publicly on this. Up to 20,000 down payments are being reported.

About a third of the down payments are likely to fall under the so-called "kikaLeiner Gravel Protection", a kind of insolvency insurance. For these buyers, the chance of getting their money back is high. Those customers who do not enjoy this protection and whose contracts were not taken over have until January 10 to register their claims in court. However, a fee of 25 euros is to be paid for the registration. Whether registration makes sense therefore also depends on the amount of the claim.

Furniture Chain Kika/Leiner in Crisis for Years

The furniture chain has been in crisis for several years, with three changes of ownership since 2013. In 2023, Rene Benko's Signa sold the Kika/Leiner properties to the Graz-based Supernova and the operational furniture business to retail manager Hermann Wieser. Shortly thereafter, the company filed for bankruptcy, closing 23 of 40 branches in the first restructuring. After the second bankruptcy in November 2024, Wieser was unable to raise fresh financial resources or find an investor.

As a result of the bankruptcy, 1,350 employees will lose their jobs. In Lower Austria, where about 550 employees live, a job foundation has been set up for this reason, which is supposed to help the staff with placement and further training. It is still unclear what quota the creditors will receive in the course of the bankruptcy proceedings. Leitner will report on the status of the proceedings next week in a day session.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.