BERLIN, October 20 (RIA Novosti) - About 3,000 employees of the German mail-order retailer Quelle are to lose their jobs as the result of the company's bankruptcy, a spokesman for the firm's parent company said.
The German trade giant Arcandor, which owns the Bavarian-based company, said on Monday the retailer was set to close its doors for good, as efforts to sell the firm had collapsed.
"From November 1, most of the employees [of the German branch] of the company will be dismissed," Klaus Hubert Goerg, Arcandor's bankruptcy administrator, told a news conference in the Bavarian city of Fuerth, broadcast by the N-24 TV channel.
In June, Arcandor filed for bankruptcy protection after the German government rejected a request for loan guarantees.
In July, Quelle received a 50 million euro ($75 million) government-guaranteed loan, intended to keep the business afloat, but failed to restructure its activities and was set to be sold.
The Deutsche Welle website quoted Klaus Hubert Goerg as saying "after intensive negotiations with a number of investors, the insolvency administrators see no alternative to the liquidation of Quelle Deutschland."
A creditor's meeting is scheduled for November 11 in Essen, the Deutsche Welle website said.
Quelle, which had satisfied German demand for mail-order goods since 1927, has its branches in 18 countries, with about 8,000 employees involved in the business. The company's Russian branch was established in 2004, with a total of 250 employees working in Quelle's office in Moscow.
According to Quelle's authorities, its activities in Central and Eastern Europe will continue.
