Employees try to save Filigranes bookshop from closure

Workers at the troubled Filigranes bookshop in Brussels say they want to propose solutions for saving the chain, which was put up for sale by its parent company.

The company, Intell, applied for transfer of ownership to a court-appointed authority on 17 September.

Various attempts to restructure the bookstore have failed, with management citing general difficulties in the book industry as a whole. Filigranes was also embroiled in scandal after a collective complaint from employees accused management of harassment and creating a toxic work environment.

Now unions representing the bookshop’s workers are calling for the staff to be included in discussions on a possible takeover, arguing that much of the difficulties the stores currently face are the direct result of decisions from management.

In a joint statement, they denounced "poor management over many years", saying that the restructuring plans put in place since 2023 have led to "a drastic reduction in stock and numerous redundancies", which have "contributed to a deterioration in the working climate and in the quality of service offered to our readers".

Faced with the risk of closure of the bookshops in Brussels, Ixelles and Knokke, the workers say they wish to "propose concrete solutions to a future buyer to save Filigranes".

“We are ready to share our expertise and show our motivation to think about Filigranes 2.0,” the employees said.

“Filigranes can be saved, but this requires a real rethink of management and a reorientation of priorities to put the bookshop back at the service of the people of Brussels. Filigranes must once again become a place of reference for culture, debate and access to the common good of books.”

The employees said Filigranes was "above all a collective work of book lovers who never stop discovering and helping others discover everything that can be said and written in the world and about the world".

The clock is ticking: applications for buyers will be presented in no more than four months' time.