Time Out stores close, operator goes bankrupt

Great United Trading Romania, the company that holds clothing
brand Time Out, went straight into bankruptcy, after accumulating a
little over one million euros in debt with the parent company in
the Czech Republic, which is also a supplier of the nine stores it
held in Romania. Great United Trading Romania posted 2.85 million
euros in turnover in 2008, but recorded 0.14 million euros in
losses. “Midway through last year, the parent company and sole
shareholder decided not to carry on doing business in Romania
because it already had a little over one million euros in debt to
recover. Initially they sought franchisees, but with the severe
decline of the fashion market last year, they could not find
reliable partners to take Time Out over. There was no more time to
search in order to avoid accumulating further debt,” George Mihai
Petrescu, who managed Great United Trading until December 2009,
told ZF. In December management was taken over by the judicial
administrator, Intercom Management SPRL.