The St Gallen-based company, which has been granted a four-month moratorium, has been unable to convince new investors or turn around its financial situation in the face of an unpredictable and massive decline in demand since last October.
In a press release issued on Tuesday, Vögele Shoes said it had obtained a four-month debt-restructuring moratorium on October 13. It said that in view of the unfavourable business development and the failure of discussions with various investors, the board of directors and the management had decided, in agreement with the relevant commissioner, to terminate the company’s commercial activities, “probably by the end of 2022 at the latest”.
Vögele Shoes added that it was in close contact with the 131 employees affected by the decision, the trade unions and human resources specialists. Discussions are also underway with partners and suppliers in order to organise the orderly winding down of sites and stocks of goods by the end of the year.
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Long live the shoe!
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Shoes are hard to recycle because they’re made of tiny bits of different materials. To lessen their impact on the environment they can however be cared for so as to make them live longer: that’s where cobblers come in handy. To adapt to new types of shoes, a new shop in Geneva offers pressing and cobbling…
The company has its roots in a cobbler’s shop opened by Karl Vögele in Uznach, northeastern Switzerland, in 1922. Vögele expanded the range to include mail-order shoe sales in 1955. The following year he opened the first shoe fashion shop in Chur.
It remained an independent family business until 2018, when it was bought by the Polish CCC Group. It was then sold to German company cm.shoes last year. Shareholders wanted to lead the group “into an even more digital future”, they said at the time.
Vögele Shoes had already been struggling with falling sales before Covid, but the pandemic and associated temporary closures were the final straw.
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Vögele Shoes, hit by coronavirus, to lose 60 stores
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Switzerland’s second-biggest shoe chain Vögele Shoes is to close 60 stores in the country.
Bodycams: essential for good law enforcement, or a privacy risk?
Did you ever come across bodycams in your place of residence and if so, how do you think the use of bodycams alter the relationship between the public and (transport) police?
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Swiss wheelchair racer Catherine Debrunner won the 5,000 metres to bring home Switzerland’s first gold medal at the Paralympics in Paris.
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The making of a Swiss footwear multinational
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Swiss footwear company On is making a name for itself in an industry that has been dominated by big players like Nike. What makes it different?
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.