Roundup: Major department store chain declares bankruptcy in Finland

The future of department stores in Finland looked increasingly gloomy this week following the surprise bankruptcy of the Anttila chain.

The Anttila chain of 31 loss-making department stores under two brands and two internet stores were sold over a year ago by the Finnish retail giant Kesko to German-based capital investors 4K Invest.

The new owners said at the time the trade mark was iconic and even opened two new stores recently. But suddenly the owners wanted to pull out and Anttila handed in bankruptcy notice on Tuesday.

The demise of Anttila came in the middle of reports that another Finnish department store chain Stockmann is recovering slowly. Stockmann has rented out spaces in its department stores and its store in Oulu, northern Finland is to close early next year.

While Stockmann is a high end department store, Anttila, for a long time, represented the lower end. Anttila was established as the first self service department store in Finland in 1952.

Unless someone buys the chain, the 1,300 employees will lose jobs at a speed Finland is not used to. Dismissals in Finland usually need a lengthy process of negotiations, but in the event of a bankruptcy the notice time is only 14 days.

Talking to Finnish news agency FNB, the main shop steward of Anttila Kai Vauhkala said the staff had realized the number of customers had declined, but nevertheless the notice came as a surprise. Anttila had just reopened in Finland's western city of Turku, for example.

While the department stores remained open to sell out the inventories, the internet shops were closed. Customers who had used credit cards to buy goods on the internet will get their money back.

However, customers who paid with bank cards and had not received the merchandise may have slim chance of receiving their money again. They are basically equal to banks and other major creditors, and have to pursue their claim on their own.

Petri Hirsimaa, the state inspector of bankrupt estates, told FNB that he did not recall a bankruptcy of an internet shop of this size in Finland. This means "established practices" may not exist for all the situations.

Retail professionals in Finland agreed in their comments to the media that Anttila had not renewed fast enough and thus did not meet the requirements of the market. Enditem