Blokker requests deferment of payment, shops remain open

Retail chain Blokker is requesting a deferment of payment. According to the company with ten branches in Drenthe, “unforeseen setbacks have delayed ambitious plans” and there is an “acute shortage of money”.

Blokker says that there will be no consequences for the shops in the short term, which will remain open. The webshop is closed.

The store chain’s staff was informed this morning. In the near future, Blokker’s management will investigate the future of the company together with an administrator.

According to CEO Pauline Boerman, it was a “difficult decision” to defer payment. “We regret the uncertainty this creates for all those involved who have so faithfully supported us in recent years, including employees, franchisees, suppliers and customers.”

The 128-year-old retail company has suffered millions of losses in recent years. It seems to be getting urgent: postponement of payment often results in bankruptcy. If Blokker were to collapse, it would affect more than 3,500 employees who work in almost four hundred branches.

In Drenthe, Blokker has stores in Assen, Emmen, Meppel, Hoogeveen, Coevorden, Roden, Klazienaveen, Zuidlaren, Odoorn and Zuidwolde.