Dutch streetwear chain Men At Work has been declared bankrupt after a short struggle: last Friday the chain closed its web shop, but kept its physical stores open. The bankruptcy only affects the Dutch stores though, it is as of yet unclear how the Belgian stores will fare.

"Bankruptcy was unavoidable"

A curator had tried to keep the company afloat, but he did not see any future for the chain. "I have therefore asked the judge in Amsterdam to declare the bankruptcy, which was unavoidable", Evert Baart told Dutch business website RTL Z. He will however try to enable a smaller portion of the company to survive. The bankruptcy might cost up to 425 jobs in the Netherlands, if all 27 stores do close.

Curator Baart will try to keep some of the larger stores open for a while in order to sell out existing stocks, but some of the suppliers still have to agree to that measure. The smaller stores will close immediately, as Baart wants to announce "as soon as possible" which stores can remain open for a bit longer.

Men at Work also has three stores in Belgium (in Antwerp, Bruges and Ghent), but they rank under a distinct company. Theoretically they are therefore not a part of this bankruptcy, however it would be very surprising if the three stores would be able to survive on their own...