The Gerry Weber brand has problems. Asks for bankruptcy

22. May 2025 at 23:23

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In our market, the fashion chain ends, whose brand is known throughout Europe. The Slovak courts were attended by the management of Gerry Weber SK and applied for bankruptcy. The company behind the stores Gerry Weber pays for the problems of the German mother.

« We know we are craving. The store works yet, but we do not know until, » one of the shop assistants of the Slovak store told the index. The company has been operating in Slovakia since 2013.

From Germany to the world

The history of the fashion brand Gerry Weber was officially written in 1973 in Halle, Germany, but its roots are a few years older. Gerhard Weber opened his first fashion shop in 1965. In many ways it was a great improvisation, as the clothes hangers were placed in the garage of his parents.

The turning point is eight years later, when he and his childhood friend Udom Hardiec creates Hatex kg. The company focused mainly on the women’s collection, when initially produced women’s pants.

Gradually, the assortment was also expanded by the work of the company, which also got beyond Germany. Marketing steps also helped. In 1986, the ambassador of the brand became tennis player Steffi Graf, who was a world tennis unit in the coming years. The brand also became the general sponsors of the Halle tennis tournament.

Ten years ago, the company boasted rocket growth, when it managed to multiply the number of stores to 490. In 2014, the company employed 4500 people and achieved a turnover of 800 million euros.

The owners then talked about the ambition to overcome the billion border. The company got into the ranking of a hundred largest fashion brands in the world.

Managerial mistakes

But big plans came across reality. Even before the outbreak of the pandemic, the German concern turned to the courts and applied for a declaration of insolvency in January 2019. In our perception, we can compare this step to restructuring.