Hotel owners, collectors

With whom leftovers from kika/Leiner are now in demand

Karl Beck from Kematen an der Ybbs bought the kika lettering that hung in the furniture store on the ground floor.(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

A member of the evacuation team has taken a seat at the information desk, with short queues forming in front of it: Two weeks after the closure of kika in Linz-Urfahr, it was busy again on Thursday. The reason: the last remnants of the furniture store were collected after the auction. Find out who is particularly keen on the items here.

"Thank you for your loyalty," reads the note still hanging in the shop window, referring to the final closure at the end of January. "It's hard to believe that a brand that you've known forever is now simply disappearing," says Norbert Lehner.

Together with online auction specialist aurena.at, the Managing Director of Lenox-Trading is responsible for clearing out the 17 kika/Leiner stores, the head office and the warehouse in St. Pölten.

Everything must be cleared by the end of February
There is not much time left to dispose of the last remnants of the furniture retailer that has slipped into bankruptcy. Closing time was at the end of January and everything has to be gone by the end of February. "We currently have collections in two buildings at the same time," says Lehner.

From vans and glass display cases with plants to televisions - the kika store in Linz-Urfahr was dismantled into 422 items. The virtual hammer fell at the online auction on February 10, and the auctioned items were collected three days later. Tractors with trailers, mini vans and even an articulated lorry were parked in the now deserted customer parking lots, which were used to transport the sometimes heavy and bulky freight away.

The interest in the items is great, reports Lehner. Nevertheless, there will be subsequent auctions at individual locations. "Because we didn't find a buyer the first time or we forgot to inventory something," says the 49-year-old, while people around him reach for their tools to dismantle shelves and make them ready for transport.

Equipment for hotels and the garden
Who particularly likes the leftovers from kika/Leiner? "It's very different," says Lehner, "private individuals and companies - both large and small". We met David Wahlmüller from Hotel Wahlmüller in Sattledt, for example, who picked up televisions and ladders at the Krone local auction. "The auction was a cheap way to get televisions," he revealed. Karl Beck from Kematen am Ybbs secured a kika sign that he wants to install in his garden. A pile of books on a transport trolley caught the eye: "They are often bought by flea market drivers who then sell them on," says Lehner.

Location in Ansfelden goes under the hammer on February 19
Do the employees of Lenox-Trading and aurena.at already have an overview of all the areas to be cleared and therefore know how many items will go under the hammer? Lehner nods: "We will end up with a total of around 30,000 to 35,000 items." On Wednesday, February 19, the kika location in Ansfelden will go under the hammer - divided into three auctions with a total of 1336 items. These include company vehicles as well as garden and living room furniture, printers and shelves.