As furniture group Heylen – widely renowned for its high-quality but expensive furniture – was declared bankrupt at the start of the summer, the chain is holding a clearance sale auction to recover as much money as possible.
In mid-June, the labour court declared the bankruptcy of the five stores of the Heylen furniture chain: Meubelen Heylen, Interieur Plus, Meevita, De Prijzenklopper and Meubelen Heylen.
The bankrupt Heylen chain aims to recover as much money as possible with these clearance sales. In July, the furniture (some 500 lots, including complete dining rooms and bedrooms) from one of the shops in Limburg (De Prijzenklopper) was put up for auction and raised over €260,000.
"We are now starting the sale of furniture from the three Heylen stores in the municipality of Peer. This will happen in phases," curator Dirk Van Coppenolle told Het Belang van Limburg.
Deposits paid
On Friday, the auction of the furniture from Interieur Plus – Heylen's store that specialised in design furniture – will start. Between 250 to 300 Interieur Plus lots will be offered, such as designer dining room tables and chairs, coffee tables, sofas, relaxation chairs and sideboard cabinets from brands such as Rolf Benz, Indera, Pastoe and Saunaco.
The online auction starts on Friday 15 September at 17:00 and ends on Thursday 5 October at 14:00. There will be a viewing day on Wednesday 4 October from 09:00 to 16:00.
"The furniture from the two other businesses will also be auctioned in October," said Van Coppenolle. "That concerns the furniture from Meevita and from Meubelen Heylen itself, the mother house of the furniture chain."
The chain's bankruptcy caused a lot of consternation among customers: hundreds of them had already paid a deposit, but were still waiting for their furniture. "Around 600 customers have received the message in recent months that they could collect their furniture – or part of it – from one of Heylen's warehouses," said Van Coppenolle.
Credit: Heylen Meubelen
Now, about three months later, the process is still ongoing; on Wednesday, a collection moment was held at the Meubelen Heylen shop in Kortenberg, just outside Brussels.
"Unfortunately, there are also many customers who have paid an advance but whose furniture is not in Heylen's warehouses, which is of course problematic," Van Coppenolle said. "They can file a declaration of debt and wait until the bankruptcy has been processed."
Whether the affected customers will ever see their advance back is unsure, said Van Coppenolle. "When dealing with a bankruptcy, you are dealing with privileged creditors, such as the banks, but also the landlords of the buildings that housed De Prijzenklopper in Hechtel-Eksel and Meubelen Heylen in Kortenberg."
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Additionally, there is the staff, suppliers and so-called institutional creditors, such as the tax authorities. "This concerns tax contributions, such as withholding tax or corporate tax, and even local contributions, such as overdue taxes for distributing advertising brochures."
It is doubtful whether there will be anything left for the affected customers afterwards. "I cannot make a statement about that yet. Every customer who has filed a declaration of debt will be informed individually whether they are still entitled to compensation."
The online auction of Interieur Plus furniture starts on Friday. For more information, see here.
