In Alleur, the Makro store displays a large advertisement with a slogan: total liquidation. The campaign aims to bring customers back to the department store chain which is now in the process of legal reorganization. And the least that can be said is that the workers have difficulty living through this publicity campaign on the part of their employer. A takeover of Metro stores is on the table. But for the 6 Makro stores in Belgium and their 1,400 workers, the unions have few illusions. It will probably be closing.
For Makro, the only takeover offer was rejected
The only French takeover offer has just been rejected by the court, the newspaper De Standaard announced today. While paradoxically, Makro’s campaign re-attracts customers to Alleur.
In front of the store, a delivery truck unloads garden furniture… Customers almost jostle at the entrance. Everywhere in the Makro, promotional posters announce: total liquidation. Pierre has been working there for more than 30 years as a restocker: “It’s complicated for all the staff. Every day, there are cashiers who cry. In the store, people since 7:15 am, they line up at the entrance and we have to manage. We see total liquidation but we don’t quite realize it yet. It’s heavy. There are some who have 35 or 40 years of boxing and overnight, it will be over.”