sad sight at Makro, a few hours before closing, “we found empty packages” (photos)

Declared bankrupt, the stores of the Makro group will definitively close their doors this Friday, leaving nearly 1,400 workers on the floor. Among these, the employees of the store in Deurne (Antwerp) will not soon forget their penultimate day of opening. Thursday morning, as Het Nieuwsblad relates, no less than 200 people were actually present at the opening of the store to take advantage of the heavy reductions (from 90% to 40%) offered by the chain.

And the least we can say is that the crowd present swept away everything in its path, leaving behind a sad landscape of empty shelves for store employees. Especially for Luc and his wife Nancy, store employees for 39 years. “It was sad to see, a real battlefield,” Luc told the Flemish daily. “At times tempers flared at the checkout. There were a lot of bargain hunters trying to get discounts. They even tried with the cashiers. We also had a lot of thefts since there was no more control in the shop. We found empty packages.

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“It’s logical” believes, for her part, Nancy. “When you’re struggling to make ends meet, discounts like these are a godsend. I still had the chance to see regular customers and thanked them personally for all these years. And I myself also received thanks. It was gratifying”.

Although the store is not sure to be able to open on Friday, the employees will still be present to be able to close their store at 5 p.m. “I absolutely want to be there,” concludes Luc. “Then we will see what the future holds for us”.