Mega World, the retailer that took over Blokker in Belgium, is looking for protection against creditors but has no rescue plan at all. The trade unions demand a special administrator, employees are on strike.
No solution
Spontaneous strike actions broke out after a special council on which owner Dirk Bron announced that Mega World was applying for protection against creditors. The retailer did not pay social security contributions, taxes and other costs on time. According to the entrepreneur, who took over Blokker’s Belgian stores at the beginning of this year and converted them into a discount chain, the corona crisis hit the company hard.
It is doubtful whether the non-food discounter will be protected, because the chain admits that there is no rescue plan at all yet. “If you have a solution, you can give it to me”, Dirk Bron answered the trade unions when asked, according to the newspaper De Tijd.
The trade unions will ask the court for a special administrator, because they fear irregularities. It is already striking that the company’s auditor not only refused to approve the annual accounts last month, but even resigned as he did not get full access to the company’s actual figures.
Doubts also arise as to whether sales at Mega World are really going that badly. According to ACLVB trade union representative Eric Vuchelen, there are stores that perform better today than they did under the Blokker flag. Mega World’s cheap range can indeed run quite well in times of corona, RetailDetail retail founder Jorg Snoeck also thinks, but the formula lacks a good commercial strategy.
