CD chain Free Record Shop is bankrupt

The commercial tribunal of Antwerp has announced the bankruptcy of Free Record Shop (FRS), at the company’s request. FRS has subsidiaries in Luxembourg and the Netherlands, which are not affected by the bankruptcy. In Belgium, the CD and games retailer employs 230 people in 68 stores.

Earlier this year, Dutch investment house ProCures bought the Belgian division of FRS, but the sale was overturned by a court in response to an action by the Dutch division. ProCures then acquired the entire group and proceeded to close some Dutch stores and lay off personnel, while the Belgian division remained untouched.

Now ProCures has requested and received a bankruptcy order, after rumours that the company was unable to organise the supply of stock for the shops. According to reports, several major suppliers such as Disney and Studio 100 declined to deliver content to FRS after a loss of confidence in the company’s financial situation, exacerbated by a decline in customer sales.

The court has appointed three administrators, who said the shops will remain open at least until the weekend to allow them to take an inventory of the situation. In the meantime, the company’s administrators report interest from Hilco, a British investment company. ProCures confirmed it had been in talks with Hilco regarding a rescue of the chain.