Brantano Footwear

For the British shoe retailer, see Brantano UK.

Brantano Footwear (Brantano, en de wereld ligt aan je voeten (English: Brantano, and the world is at your feet)) was a European chain of retail stores specialising in footwear for men, women and children, that was founded in Belgium.

Brantano N.V.

Company type	Public
Industry	Retail
Founded	1962
Defunct	2017 (UK division) 2022 (Belgium division)
Headquarters	Lede, Belgium
Number of locations	286 stores
Area served	Europe, Middle East
Key people	André Brantegem, Founder
Products	Footwear
Revenue	€295.2 million (FY 2006)
Operating income	€35.9 million (FY 2006)
Net income	€29.5 million (FY 2006)
Number of employees	2,945[1]
Parent	Brantano N.V. (1962-2007) Macintosh Retail Group (2007-2016)
Website	www.brantano.be/nl/

It went into administration in March 2017. The stores closed in June 2017 with the loss of over 900 jobs.^[2]

Origin

The company originated from a small factory run by André Brantegem and his brother in Lede, East Flanders. The Brantegem brothers were sons of a cobbler. They specialised in ladies' shoes which they sold to wholesalers and retailers in Belgium. Eventually the brothers separated and in 1962 André initiated a retail outlet at the factory. This evolved into the Brantano chain of shoe shops.^[3]

Brantano closed its Dutch and Danish stores in 2005, and subsequently liquidated its French stores.

In 2007, Dutch holding company Macintosh Retail Group took over ownership of Brantano. In 2015, Macintosh sold the Brantano UK subsidiary to Alteri Investors.^[4] In 2018, Macintosh sold Brantano to FNG N.V.. FNG N.V. filed for bankruptcy on 30 July 2020.^[5] After a failed attempt at relaunching its brands, including Brantano, FNG N.V. filed for bankruptcy for a second time in February 2022 and subsequently liquidated its assets.^[6]

Subsidiaries

• Brantano Luxembourg SA, operates stores in Luxembourg.
• Brimmo NV and Muys NV, operates stores in Belgium.