Sale ends

Kika/Leiner closes permanently at the end of January

January 31st marks the end of an era in the domestic furniture trade.(Bild: APA/EVA MANHART)

The curtain will finally fall on the insolvent furniture chain Kika/Leiner at the end of January. All remaining stores are to be closed. In December, it was still said that individual stores could possibly remain open in February for "remaining stock sales".

In just over three weeks, an era in the domestic furniture trade will come to an end. On January 31, all Kika/Leiner stores that are still open will close their doors. Until then, the sale of the product range, which began in December, will continue. Business seems to be going well and stocks are likely to slowly empty. For this reason, insolvency administrator Volker Leitner has now decided to close for good at the end of January.

The original plan was for individual locations to remain open in February for "remaining stock sales". This is now off the table. All restaurants in the individual furniture stores were already closed at the end of December.

Customers with down payments already informed
Anyone who ordered a kitchen or bedroom had to pay a deposit. Many people feared for their money due to the bankruptcy. Up to 20,000 deposits were reported. The liquidator has now informed all those affected whether the order will still be fulfilled.

If this is not the case, the only option is to register the claim with the liquidator. They have until January 10 to do so. A few thousand customers, on the other hand, were lucky and benefited from the so-called ballast protection. Their down payments were virtually guaranteed by Kika/Leiner. They will get (almost) the entire amount paid in advance back.