Saraiva fires all employees and stores may close – 09/20/2023 – Market

The bookstore chain Saraiva, which has been in the process of judicial recovery since 2018, fired the rest of its employees this Wednesday (20). The approximately 150 employees laid off were distributed between the administrative areas, at the company’s headquarters, and the five remaining physical stores in the country.

The information was published by the PublishNews website and confirmed by Sheet. When contacted by the report, Saraiva did not officially comment.

With the layoffs, the company’s operations will be compromised, with the physical units and the saraiva.com website possibly inoperative as of this Thursday (21), according to a person directly involved in the process.

Saraiva currently has five physical stores, four in the state of São Paulo and one in Campo Grande (MS).

In the city of São Paulo there are two left — in Shopping Aricanduva, in the east zone, and in Praça da Sé, in the center. There is also a unit in Santo André and another in Jundiaí.

According to the company’s latest financial statement, referring to the second quarter of this year, net revenue from physical stores in the period was R$7.2 million — which represents a drop of 60.2% compared to the same period last year. last year.

On the website, net sales were R$100,000, a drop of 78.6% compared to the second quarter of 2022. In the period, the company recorded a net loss of R$16.1 million.

Earlier this week, two board members resigned from their positions, alleging the existence of false minutes of the Board of Directors signed by the president.

“The Company is in judicial recovery and in a complex situation given the economic scenario of Brazilian retail. As already presented in relevant facts, the Company’s activity has reduced significantly and, unfortunately, some payments, including those of Directors, are late, the which will probably generate other resignations of elected directors”, said the company in a relevant fact published on Tuesday (19).

The story of Saraiva’s judicial recovery goes back to November 2018, when it had debt of around R$675 million.

Saraiva’s financial situation was worsened by the pandemic. Both it and Livraria Cultura faced drops in revenue and had to close the activities of several branches.

In April 2020, Saraiva fired 500 employees, after negotiations with the São Paulo Trade Union.

In 2021, the auction that the chain opened with the aim of selling part of its operations did not attract any qualified buyers. The move was part of the company’s judicial recovery agreement, which once boasted the position of the largest book retailer in Brazil.