Retail giant Kesko group plans to shut down its chain of footwear stores early next year.
This includes its Kookengä and Kenkäexpertti outlets, and its leisure footwear chain The Athlete’s Foot. Kesko also plans to discontinue its Andiamo footwear brand.
The group has initiated co-determination talks that will affect the staff at the chains.
The company has also started lay-off talks that will affect about 60 corporate employees at the headquarters of its sports stores, Intersport and Budget Sports.
In total, the negotiations will affect nearly 200 employees, 150 of whom will be terminated.
Kesko runs about 40 footwear stores and a dozen The Athlete’s Foot stores across the country.
At this stage, Kesko is not yet considering selling off the operations. The company said the final decisions will be taken at the beginning of next year.
Representatives of the service trade union PAM has called out the employer's actions as irresponsible in a pandemic situation and said that the company should relocate employees who are at risk of dismissal to other companies owned by the group.
Kesko employs more than 40,000 employees.