Overview
- Insolvency administrator Stefan Meyer confirmed on Wednesday that the remaining 21 Hammer stores will close by the end of May and the company will be wound up.
- Administrators said several potential buyers submitted non-binding offers but withdrew them and no binding investor emerged to save the chain.
- The company first filed for insolvency in January after an autumn 2025 takeover by the Rethink consortium and an earlier insolvency of its former parent Brüder Schlau in mid‑2025.
- Hammer cut many stores in earlier waves — roughly 46 by late March and about 20 four weeks later — and around 1,100 employees had their contracts terminated in late April.
- Administrators are negotiating to transfer leases to food and non‑food tenants that could reoccupy sites and possibly hire some former staff, a process that highlights the wider strain on German brick‑and‑mortar retail from weak demand, online competition, higher costs and tighter financing.