Arcandor, the insolvent German retailer, announced last week that
it is shutting Quelle Deutschland, the German division of the
82-year-old general merchandise catalogue. Arcandor’s
administrator had been seeking a buyer for Quelle along with the
Primondo speciality catalogues, but the inability to find a bank
that would provide factoring services-in effect lend money to the
company to ease cash flow between the time customers are billed
and the actual payment of the bills-had ruled out any deal.
According to reports, as many as 7,000 jobs will be lost as a
result.
Quelle’s Swiss, Austrian, and Eastern European units are still
for sale, however, as are the Primondo titles, which mail into 13
countries. The catalogue brands include fashion titles Afibel and
Peter Hahn in the UK and Hessnatur in the US.
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