Home Market outlets close across Belgium

Unions representing staff of the home decoration chain Home Market have described the company’s decision to close all 41 stores in Belgium as “a bolt out of the blue”. The news of the closures came yesterday afternoon after a brief meeting of the enterprise board.

The company said the difficult economic situation was the reason, together with “a series of unfortunate developments in the market” – among them the increased popularity of DIY. 

Home Market arrived in Belgium from France in 1976 and has 41 stores across the country as well as three franchisees, 26 of them in Flanders, employing a total of 233 people. According to union representative Philip Joostens, the company undertook a review of its entire marketing strategy only a year ago but never gave the new concept a chance to succeed. The company invested €10.5 million in marketing and development between 2007 and 2013.

“We also looked for external partners to invest,” said Home Market director-general Jean-Luc Lamote. “There were various contacts with people in both the financial sector and in retail.” The investments and consultations were not enough to stop the company’s financial backward slide.

No date has been set for the closures. Management and unions are due to meet for the first time next week, under the so-called Renault procedure on collective redundancies. Later meetings are planned for 18 and 25 February, as the company has “no desire to drag matters out,” unions said.