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baptismal churches – The crisis in the German furniture industry may soon bring another victim: one of the largest manufacturers of upholstered furniture in Germany is facing bankruptcy; the company has now filed for bankruptcy proceedings. In Germany alone, around 850 employees face an uncertain future.
Himolla is headquartered in Bavarian Taufkirchen is one of the largest upholstered furniture factories in Europe. The company, founded in 1948, produces sofas, lounge chairs and living rooms. Now the renovation should get the traditional business back on track.
Causes of financial difficulties
According to information on the furniture manufacturer’s website, the reason for the move is the ongoing difficult market situation. Furniture industry suffers from weak consumer sentiment, a halt in construction activity and fierce price competition from low-wage countries.
The headquarters of furniture giant Himolla is located in Taufkirchen, Bavaria.
Himolla wants to use the protective shield procedure (stands for: Hellommlish, Mollig, Anice). The team includes restructuring manager Tillmann Peters from Falkensteg and consultants DMR Legal. Arndt Geiwitz from the law firm SGP Schneider Geiwitz was appointed interim administrator.
What is the protective shield procedure?
In classic insolvency proceedings, management usually transfers control to the manager. On the other hand, the protective shield procedure allows for early restructuring within the framework of self-government: since the company is not yet insolvent, the management remains in place. Under court protection from creditors, she has up to three months to draw up an insolvency plan.
The German furniture industry is in crisis
After bankruptcies, among other things Hulsta, Koenig + Neurath And Interlubke The German furniture industry is still in deep crisis. Last year, the industry generated sales of about 15.8 billion euros, down 3.4 percent from the previous year. Manufacturers of upholstered furniture are especially struggling with weak demand. In the first two months of the year, their sales fell 13 percent compared to the previous year, WirtschaftsWoche reports.
In the 1950s, the traditional company received a patent for television chairs from the USA and with the Cumulus model became the largest manufacturer of television chairs in Germany.
Himolla also could not avoid the decline. Although they Market shares remained stable, but the restructuring steps taken so far have not been able to compensate for the decline in sales and losses. According to the company, customers were initially given clarity that business operations would continue. All orders must be processed as planned.
Who will be affected by the upcoming bankruptcy?
This is salvation, despite insolvency can succeed, as he shows Office furniture manufacturer OKA. According to the Sächsische Zeitung, the insolvency representative found two buyers from the customer base there. Accordingly, the new owners will continue to operate the company under the new name and will want to continue producing OKA’s renowned high-quality office furniture in the future.
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In total, the Himolla group employs more than 2,000 people. Employeesof these, about 850 are in Taufkirchen – the furniture manufacturer is the largest employer in the Erding district. German employees will receive bankruptcy money for June, July and August. Just recently achieved this Chase annual turnover of almost 190 million euros. The protective shield procedure initially affects only German society. According to WirtschaftsWoche, locations in Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Hungary are not directly affected.