Leiner in insolvency

Graz’s Annenstraße threatened with another severe setback

The Leiner in the immediate vicinity of Graz's main train station was a beacon for retail in the area - now it is threatened with permanent closure.(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

The second insolvency of the furniture store chain Kika/Leiner also affects Styria, the last two branches in Graz could be closed. Last year, four other Styrian locations had already been closed: XXXLutz has since acquired the former branches in Liezen and Judenburg.

The furniture store chain kikaLeiner's renewed application for insolvency on Thursday was no longer a surprise. Around 160 employees are affected in Styria - in the last two remaining branches in Graz. There is a kika location near the Webling distribution center, and the traditional Leiner store is located near the main train station - at the beginning of the once flourishing Annenstraße.

"It's a difficult time for the employees and their families - many are worried about their livelihoods, Christmas is just around the corner and they don't know what will happen next," says Günter Riegler, Graz's ÖVP city councillor for economic affairs. However, he is not completely giving up hope: The locations in Graz certainly have potential - "especially the furniture store in Annenstraße, which was extensively renovated and modernized not too long ago. If it were to close, that would be another blow for the district - it's still unclear what will happen with the Annenpassage directly opposite."

XXXLutz buys two Styrian stores
Last year, in the course of the first insolvency, four Styrian branches were closed. What happened to them? Well, the former kika location in Liezen and the Leiner branch in Judenburg have been taken over by the furniture giant XXXLutz, as spokesman Thomas Saliger confirmed to the "Krone" newspaper. What is to happen with the two properties is currently being evaluated.

There was a kika store in Leoben. This was acquired by the busy online auction house Aurena from neighboring Niklasdorf and is currently being used as a warehouse. A lot has also happened in Feldbach, where the local entrepreneur Erwin Teller bought the kika. Among other things, a Hervis outlet is now located here.