from MCN:
Hein Gericke UK has been placed into administration with buyers for the British arm of the German parent company now being sought. The administrators, Moorfields Corporate Recovery are looking to sell the business and have invited interested parties to get in touch by Monday 6th August.
Simon Thomas, of Moorfields said “While on-going economic pressures have affected sales in recent years I am confident the business model has a lot of potential with a dedicated customer base and staff who are obviously passionate about working for the company”. The UK motorcycle clothing and accessory retailer trades under a license agreement and is separate from the German based parent company.
I'm not surprised by this announcement
I actually predicted it in Andy's thread about his Garmin
I'll be interested to see how many retail outlets survive
And how much of their business is transfered "online"
Thanks for the info Stella
Stella, you've beaten me to it! I've had a feeling all was not quite well for a while...there's been the exchanges on this site about HG backsliding over a faulty Garmin, and they seem to have been discounting like mad over the last few months. Let's hope someone manages to salvage as much as possible. Going into administration means that they're still open for business pending a rescue bid, so it's still OK to buy from them in safety.
According to scuttlebut on the PistonHeads forum, they were also a franchise operation. Again, that's something I've suspected for a while, but it would be sad if individual store owner/operators get hammered for decisions taken elsewhere.
Although their behaviour over the Garmin was unacceptable, I for one would miss HG since I've picked up a few bargains at their stores. All the special offers did smack of desperation, though.
out of every dark cloud there comes a silver lining..
Had just finished sorting evidence and form filling for me County Court summons against HG when I read they in admin......dont panic dont panic!!!! as corp jones would say ..
I took my paperwork and drove to the store at Maidstone where I selected a very nice leather jacket from the displays. I asked at the desk for my Garmin Refund to be told no its still not sorted out...so I said I would like the jacket FOC in leiu.....staff not impressed! I asked them to call Head Office customer service manager who was dealing with my refund apparently and said agree or disagree its what I going to do...he promptly told the staff to issue me with a receipt for 1P for the jacket (£440 worth) and out I walked happy to have got something from what looked like being a total loss.
I've just had to go past the local HG shop, so dropped in for a few minutes. Everything 20% off apart from lids which are only 10% off. Doesn't seem much more than their last sale anyway...when it gets to half price I'll be more interested.
What I still can't get my head around is the fact that they are still trading "as normal" in Europe
With the Euro at an all time low (78p) one would expect that the UK would be in a "prime" position to take advantage of the currency difference
Perhaps this has something to do with the euphemism "Treasure Island"
Where foreign traders saw/see Britain as an easy target for inflated prices
Something which I pointed out in another thread, that when credit in the UK was "flowing like tap water" their sales (HG) were holding up
But now that personal finances are being "reigned in" by most "ordinary" folk, their prices (HG's) are well beyond the reach of normal pockets without access to credit
Would the "average" BMer be able to go into their (HG's) shop and pay the £440 () for a leather* jacket
* leather is a "bi-product" of the BEEF industry, itself being one of the largest industries in the "world economy", consequently there is a "glut" of hides
Did you ever see so much "leather" furniture on sale
ye tend to agree, leather gear does seem to be overpriced esp when labour costs to stitch it all together are either low or near zero if done by a computerised machine stitcher/cutter. I for one wouldnt have paid over £400 for a jacket normaly. Apparently its got a two year gtee against water ingress due to its fancy lining..hmm, just who do i return it to then!
![Hein Gericke UK go into Administration - Forums [Biker Match]](/images/backgrounds/strips/8mobileLQ.jpg)
![Hein Gericke UK go into Administration - Forums [Biker Match]](/images/backgrounds/strips/8desktopLQ.jpg)
