Home accessories chain

Depot announces 200 employees for redundancy

Employees who lose their jobs at Depot are to be placed elsewhere.(Bild: Depot)

Of the 49 Depot stores in Austria, 25 are so loss-making that they are being put to the test. The Neo boss is planning a major sell-off and wants to place the affected employees in other companies.

These are bitter days for the employees of the home accessories chain Depot: the Viennese closure expert Rainer Schrems, who buried the shoe retail chains Salamander and Delka last year, has been Depot's managing director since February 29. The reason: 25 of the 49 stores in Austria are so loss-making that they are being put to the test. Schrems: "I have therefore pre-registered around half of the 400 employees with the AMS as a precaution."

Depot Managing Director Rainer Schrems has to close many branches.(Bild: klemens groh)

One problem is that people would rather spend their money on travel and restaurants than on decorative items such as vases, tablecloths or scented candles after the coronavirus pandemic. Nevertheless, there are also locations such as those at the train stations where business is going well.

Big sale starts next Friday
According to Schrems, ten to 15 stores will probably have to close, but he is still negotiating better rental agreements with the landlords. In any case, he is planning a major sale at affected locations from Friday next week.

Schrems wants to place employees who lose their jobs at Depot elsewhere - for example with companies with which he has contacts, such as Humanic, ÖAMTC travel agencies and Intimissimi/Calzedonia.

The manager also has one goal in mind: to lay "the foundation for healthy growth in the future" through restructuring.