Multiple Insolvencies Shake Traditional and Retail Firms Across Germany in 2025
Traditional and retail companies across Germany, including Store Concept, Fasana, and Knaack-Krane, face insolvency amid rising costs and market pressures in 2025.
- • Store Concept GmbH files for insolvency, impacting over 400 retailers.
- • Fasana company threatens 250 jobs amid high rental costs and cyberattacks.
- • Knaack-Krane, a Hamburg crane rental firm, enters insolvency, placing 100+ jobs at risk.
- • High energy prices, wages, and market shifts strain traditional German businesses.
Key details
Several notable German companies are facing insolvency in 2025, illustrating the financial strains on traditional and retail sectors amid challenging economic conditions.
Store Concept GmbH & Co. KG, known for its women’s fashion brand Heimatliebe, filed for insolvency on September 29, 2025, affecting over 400 German retailers. The textile industry faces a 4% revenue decline in the first half of 2025, pressured by high energy costs, rising wages, and growing online competition. Heimatliebe, rooted in Italian-inspired designs in the mid-price segment for over a decade, struggled with pandemic-related sales losses and shifting consumer habits, putting its future and that of its retail partners at risk (ID 88192).
In Stotzheim, the century-old Fasana company is on the brink of bankruptcy, jeopardizing approximately 250 jobs. Executive Karsten Beisert cited an annual rent payment of €1.5 million demanded by property owner CTP, who resists selling the premises at a reasonable price, valuing it at €27.5 million versus an independent estimate of €10 million. Despite talks with a potential international investor ready to inject over €50 million, Fasana’s operations are threatened by prior cyberattacks that paralyzed the company and caused massive financial damage. Local skepticism surrounds CTP’s plan to develop a logistics center on the site, adding complexity to Fasana’s rescue efforts (ID 88193).
Hamburg-based crane rental company Knaack-Krane, famously linked to the Volksparkstadion, filed for insolvency due to a weak economy and a slump in the crane trade, exacerbated by high US import tariffs. This insolvency puts over 100 employees at risk. Knaack was acquired by the Hüffermann Group in 2023, which has also recently declared insolvency, signaling broader troubles in the crane rental market in Northern Germany (ID 88195).
These insolvency cases reflect the broader economic pressures on Germany’s traditional manufacturing, retail, and service sectors in 2025, driven by inflationary costs, international trade tensions, cyber risks, and evolving consumer behavior. The affected companies and thousands of employees now face uncertain futures as stakeholders seek viable solutions to preserve jobs and operations.