Schuh Graf's shoe-store model stopped paying its fixed costs

Schuh Graf GmbH & Co. KG is a third-generation family shoe retailer based in Fellbach near Stuttgart, trading under the sales formats Schuh-Mann and Quick Schuh. In 2025 it ran 27 stores, all of them in Baden-Württemberg, with about 160 employees selling shoes, bags and accessories. Its retail network was the engine of the business — a regional chain built on bricks and mortar.

On 3 June 2025 the Amtsgericht Stuttgart approved the company's application to open a preliminary insolvency proceeding under self-administration (Eigenverwaltung), keeping management in charge while a restructuring adviser steers the process. On 16 September 2025 the court opened the formal proceeding. Management named the causes: a weak consumer economy, high inflation, growing online trade, generally declining customer footfall and high fixed costs.

The aim was to keep every store open and secure the chain's future. Salaries were guaranteed for three months through the German Insolvency Money (Insolvenzgeld). As the restructuring progressed, the first stores began to close — the Schuh-Mann branches in Altensteig and Esslingen were shut and their staff redeployed — while the rest of the network was reviewed store by store for viability.