Former Pietro Filipi operations director Lukáš Uhl, together with the founder of the Tamsin.cz fashion e-shop, Lenka O’Neill, wants to save the bankrupt clothing brand. They concluded a contract with the insolvency administrator for the sale of stocks. The sale is scheduled for one year. At the same time, Uhl and O’Neill will be looking for a partner with whom it would be possible to revitalize the brand and its new future.
According to Uhl, Pietro Filipi has in stock goods with a cost value of more than CZK 100 million. The aim of its sale is to cover at least part of the creditors’ claims. People will find Pietro Filipi products in only a few stone shops, namely in the brand’s former flagship store on Prague’s Národní třída and in the Fashion Arena Prague Outlet in Prague. Uhl and O’Neill are also considering selling in a branch outside Prague and offering goods on the Internet.
“Not only in Prague, but also for customers all over the Czech Republic, Pietro Filipi was synonymous with quality Czech fashion. The name had a certain sound and was associated with leading domestic actresses, for example. “After months of silence and standing in a dead place, the sound resounded. There is still some potential here, but we need to act quickly,” O’Neill said.
Uhl worked in the management of the company Dáme jídle. He spent the last two years rescuing the e-shop with fashion and accessories Zoot.cz, where he held the position of crisis and executive director.
O’Neill worked in the management of the luxury clothing brand Burberry and subsequently founded the e-shop Tamsin.cz with British fashion, which has been operating since 2010.
According to the E15 server, there are several serious people interested in Pietro Filipi. Zoot, for example, is interested in the brand. However, the director of the e-shop, Milan Polák, said that the company is willing to negotiate the purchase of trademarks if the sale takes place by the end of September, the daily said. According to E15, the Slovak businessman and former partner of the Penta Group Jozef Špirko, through his clothing company Ozeta, and the founder of the Pietro Filipi brand, Petr Hendrych, are also interested in Pietro Filipi.
Insolvency proceedings with Pietro Filipi and Pietro Filipi stores, which operated the Czech brand’s retail stores, were opened in February. The reason was a coronavirus pandemic and forced closures. Due to lack of funds, the owner of the companies, Michal Mička, was not able to continue looking for investors and possible reorganization of the companies. The Municipal Court in Prague decided in May to declare bankruptcy of both companies. The company Pietro Filipi owed creditors at that time about CZK 513 million, in the case of Pietro Filipi stores the amount of receivables was about CZK 182 million.
The Pietro Filipi clothing brand has been operating on the Czech market since 1993, but the company has struggled with debt. Mička believed that he could raise the established brand and in 2017 he and his investment company C2H bought an 80% stake in it, in 2019 he acquired the remaining 20 percent. Mička also decided to revive the Kara brand, but she also went into insolvency this year. Reorganization is now allowed. It was decided to save it by its former owner Zdeněk Rinth and the largest creditor, the company Natland Pohledávková V. from the Natland investment group.
Source: CTK
