Quality shoe retailer closes stores in Portugal

Eureka Shoes, one of the best quality Portuguese shoe retailers, is to close its doors in Portugal.

According to the company’s site, it is “disconnecting” from the Portuguese retail market by closing all of its 13 stores.
“The network of Eureka stores is to gradually disconnect starting from today and over the coming weeks” states the information on the company’s site. The holding group which owns Eureka once had 30 stores in Portugal and three overseas franchises.
Izilda Garcia, Eureka’s Chef Corporate Office has confirmed to news sources in Portugal that the company would “close down its entire network of stores”.
“It was a decision taken by the board to entirely shut down the remaining stores in the group since it doesn’t have the financial capacity based on the company’s current model to meet retail needs and in financial terms” the company’s founder Alberto Sousa told ECO via his lawyer.
Although the firm employs 32, according to the lawyer “the company will not have to collectively lay off most of the staff who will be transferred to other companies owned by the group”.
The lawyer also stressed that the shoe factory in Vizela would remain open and that the “company will change to becoming exclusively focused on its industrial component”.
In 2018 the company founded by Alberto Sousa issued its first warning signs that the business was not going well with a debt of €22 million owed to 622 creditors. Last year it underwent a Special Restructuring Process which meant shutting down around 10 shops.
“The truth of the matter is that retail is a capital intensive business and owing to financial restraints it was decided to close all the stores that are not making a positive contribution to its EBITDA” concluded the lawyer.