Around 100 employees are affected by the branch closures and cost-cutting measures. The locations in Wolfsberg, Spittal/Drau, Leoben and Innsbruck will be closed at the end of January 2025. In addition, measures to reduce costs will be implemented company-wide, Gigasport announced on Tuesday.
“The last few years have been extremely challenging for the entire retail sector, especially sports retail. The industry is suffering from the consequences of the corona pandemic, the energy crisis and the weak economy,” said Gigasport in a press release. In addition, Gigasport was severely affected by the bankruptcy of the Sport 2000 Group last year.
The crisis in the sports retail sector has been going on for a long time now, which means that retailers are sitting on full warehouses. This was particularly noticeable in the bicycle trade – after the sales boom during the corona pandemic. In July of the previous year, the Sport 2000 cooperative had to apply for restructuring proceedings. In 2023, real sales in the sporting goods industry fell by 4.4 percent to 2.28 billion euros. Employment figures fell by 1.7 percent.
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