Hakei will be added this month to the list of fashion firms that, like or , have ended up in liquidation, according to what internal company sources have confirmed to this newspaper. At the end of April, the brand founded thirteen years ago by the Bilbao family, will have closed all its establishments in Spain, which today have 23 points of sale, according to what appears on its website. This is, in fact, the only information about the firm that can be found on its website, since the online sale of Hakei has been out of service for several months.
The company presented its liquidation in December of last year after having failed in its intention to raise capital through the incorporation of a partner. This has been their great struggle since 2010, when the firm wanted to start an important expansion process in Spain and also abroad, taking into account the years of growth they had experienced even in times of crisis.
In July 2011, the firm closed the year with sales of 13.8 million, but its losses stood at more than 880,000 euros. A year later, in October 2012, it went into suspension of payments with a liability of 8.5 million euros.
At that time, the Bilbao family made it clear that their intention was to continue with Hakei’s activity, and that was the case, since on December 9, 2013, it managed to pass the contest by obtaining the support of its creditors. From that moment on, Hakei reduced its international presence, since it had established itself in France, hand in hand with Galeries Lafayette, and reorganized its network of stores in Spain.
The ups and downs in the firm’s accounts going in and out of red numbers led the Bilbao family to present the liquidation of their company Hakei Europe on December 21.
As of today, the brand has already begun to disappear from many of the Corte Inglés in which it was present and it is likely that next week the first closures of the nine stores at street level that it has in cities such as Madrid, where it has five establishments and corners in four shopping centers, Barcelona, Bilbao or San Sebastián. It is also present in Gijón, Pamplona, Santander and Zaragoza.
The history of its creators
The Bilbao Salaberria family is well known in the world of fashion and especially footwear. Without going any further, they introduced the famous katiuskas (rain boots) in Spain and also the well-known Victoria slippers. In 1991 the family created Fosco, which they ended up selling entirely in 2002 to the French group Vivarte, which they also helped launch the Merkal Calzados chain in our country.
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