German Insolvency Register records indicated that Endless International GmbH, which is headquartered and registered in Germany, initiated insolvency proceedings on 18 November.
A statement issued by Endless International GmbH confirmed the action, explaining that shareholders, board of directors and management had “reached the conclusion to declare the company bankrupt”.
“Management and shareholders have been trying hard to establish a financial and sound business and they have spent considerable resources to find a sustainable model for the future. However, this has appeared not to be possible,” the statement read.
Peter Jakobsen, managing partner of the brand’s Australian and New Zealand distributor, Nordic Jewellery, told Jeweller he was aware of the “difficulties” Endless faced; however, news of the bankruptcy came as a “complete surprise”.
“We are hopeful that Endless [overseas] will continue in some form,” Jakobsen said, adding, “Endless is represented in almost 35 countries around the world; we continue to believe in the brand and the product.”
When asked what the announcement meant for local Endless stockists, he replied: “We still have Endless stock and some very good Endless retailers, so for now it will be business as usual and we will continue to support our retailers in any way we can.”
Jakobsen stated that Nordic, which also holds the distribution rights for Chrysalis and Waterford Crystal jewellery ranges, would continue to operate as normal.
What went wrong?
It would appear, according to the Endless statement, that one of the contributing factors to the company’s financial struggles was its “right to return” sales structure.
“In February 2016, the company announced that it had to adjust the sales figures for products sold with right to return and unfortunately the following cost savings were not sufficient to make a turn-around and the result hereof is to declare the company bankrupt,” the release read.
Endless founder Jesper Nielsen, who parted ways with the company in February this year, made a comment on his Facebook page that suggested he was involved in an unsuccessful bid to purchase the business in an attempt to save it from bankruptcy.
“We did everything we could to buy the business back in the last three weeks but not even [the] shareholders could find [a way] to agree,” he wrote.
Nielsen added that the business had “so much potential” and eight months ago had 3,500 retail stockists, 11 international distributors and 300 employees in more than 30 countries.
German Insolvency Register records listed Endless CEO Ulrik Rasch as legal representative of the company and Klaus Siemon as temporary insolvency administrator.
The announcement followed a slew of business management changes. In May, only months after Nielsen’s abrupt departure, Paul Moonga left the company after being appointed CEO in June 2015.
Endless chief financial officer Hans Jørgen Krabbenhøft and chief marketing officer Mikkel Berg also parted ways with the company in May.
Endless was founded in 2013 and introduced to the Australian and New Zealand market in February 2015.
There are currently 150 Endless retail stockists in Australia and 12 Endless retail stockists in New Zealand.
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