Gerry Weber to discontinue Talkabout brand

German clothing group Gerry Weber has announced plans to drop its Talkabout wholesale brand to focus on its core brands, in the latest development in the company’s turnaround plan.

Launched in 2016 as a brand exclusively for wholesale customers, Talkabout has currently about 170 partnerships in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Benelux, as well as in Budapest and Prague.

The last collection will be delivered in February 2019, however not many jobs will be lost as the majority of its employees will be integrated into Gerry Weber International.

“In view of the economic challenges facing our company, we are pooling our forces and will focus on our core business to be successful in the long term. This is why we have decided to discontinue the youngest brand of the Gerry Weber Group,” Johannes Ehling, CEO designate of the Germany company, said in a statement.

“Although great progress has been achieved in the market and the team have done a great job, we are currently unable to further build up our youngest brand,” he continued.

The group, whose core brands include Gerry Weber, Taifun, Samoon and Hallhuber, has also recently revealed it will sell a showroom centre in Düsseldorf for 36 million euros to increase its cash reserves. Occupying over 12,000 square metres, the showroom space is currently let to 21 different fashion companies.

It also warned of “deep” job cuts as part of an ongoing restructuring programme to ensure the company is sustainable and viable for the future. The measures come after group sales for the first nine months of financial year 2017/18 dropped 7.3% to 575 million euros. The company made an adjusted operating loss of 1.6 million euros during the same period.

Gerry Weber is battling continued weakness in the German and European retail market and a consumer shift towards online shopping.

Founded in 1973, the clothing group is one of the most prominent in Germany.

Gerry Weber to discontinue Talkabout brand

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