Maroquinerie du Passage has been in business for 93 years; Tapis Hertz 78 years; Casa Nova Contemporain 35. But longevity and strong local roots are no match for the recent string of crises.

Tapis Hertz: “There was no way out”

Nathalie Aach joined the family business--founded in 1946--some 30 years ago, when it was still being run by her parents.

Now, however, the CEO has her head in the sand: since the announcement on social networks on 29 April that Tapis Hertz was going out of business, “it’s been crazy,” she says. “The liquidation has begun in earnest. As soon as they heard the news, people started to panic.” The shop, located in the Belle Étoile, will shutter in the beginning of September.

Of the 14 employees, six have already found jobs elsewhere or will be retiring. Tapis Hertz had left the capital’s city centre--its historic address on the Grand Rue--in 2019, . “It’s a good thing we made that choice,” says Aach. “Without it, we wouldn’t have lasted this long.”

Unfortunately, the move to a single sales area wasn’t enough. “We’d been having problems,” says Aach, who adds that the problems got serious last summer. Things were up and down, she says, and a decision had to be made before going under if bankruptcy was to be avoided. “We’ve always been a company with a fairly high standing. I didn’t want things to end in a bad way.”

The decision to close up shop was taken in February, with her parents’ approval. “I went to see them with all the figures for the last three years. There was no way out. My parents have always supported me; we’re very close. We’re together through thick and thin.”

There is one small bright spot in the picture: the curtains and plain carpets business of Tapis Hertz is being taken over by De Buedemleër, in Ehlerange, which is also a family business.

Maroquinerie du Passage: “It’s no longer the heart that must speak”

It’s a story of running out of steam. Following the covid-19 lockdown in 2020, La Maroquinerie du Passage was forced to close its outlet in the Auchan Kirchberg shopping centre, which had been in operation for 25 years.

Today, it’s the location on Rue de Louvigny in Luxembourg City--where the shop moved in 2017 after a quarter-century on Rue Philippe II--on the chopping block. It will all be done by the end of the month, at the same time as its manager retires.

“The reasons were economic,” explains Marc Muller, the third-generation manager of this family business. “It’s quite complicated in the city. It started when we moved from Rue Philippe II, with the tramway works. Then came the covid-19 crisis. And now the property crisis, which is eroding people’s purchasing power. If they don’t come, a shop can’t survive. It’s impossible to operate on Saturday alone.”

Muller thought long and hard before making his decision. It was heartbreaking, he said. His grandmother founded the company in 1931. “It’s no longer the heart that must speak--you have to think with your head.” The owner of the premises had always been understanding and accommodating, he adds. “It wasn’t a question of rent at all. But the crisis is here. And I fear that other businesses will suffer a similar fate.”

In the meantime, La Maroquinerie du Passage continues to look ahead, towards the future, through its two shops in La Belle Étoile and Ettelbruck. “We’re not disappearing…” says Muller. “We’re heading for our 100th anniversary!”

Casa Nova Contemporain: “The city centre is complicated”

“When I turned 65, I started planning what to do next [about the business]. But I couldn’t find anything. There were contacts, but they didn’t work out…”

At the beginning of March, the upmarket furniture shop Casa Nova Contemporain on Avenue de la Porte-Neuve informed its customers on that, after 35 years, the adventure was coming to an end. “There’s one regret, of course,” says Marc Reding, the interior designer and founder of the store. “I would have spent my whole life there.

Casa Nova Contemporain was 500m2 of exhibition space over three storeys. 

“The city centre is complicated,” says Reding. “Rising prices are one thing, but the top end of the market is becoming more complicated every year. Delays have also become exaggerated. We used to wait a month and a half; now it’s three months. In fact, there isn’t just one reason, but several…”

This article in Paperjam. It has been translated and edited for Delano.