Geysir Stores Shut Their Doors And Lays Off Their Staff

Geysir shut their stores in Reykjavík on the first day of February due to both operational difficulties and the lack of tourists entering Iceland.

According to sources at Vísir, the Icelandic knitwear company has also laid off all of their employees.

Geysir operates six stores; three in downtown Reykjavík, one in Kringlan and another in Akureyri. Another store was based in Fjallraven on Laugavegur but it was to be moved to Skólavörðustígur.

Sigurjón Þórsson, CEO of Kringlan, spoke with Vísir saying that the Kringlan store was shut yesterday and he was aware of the forthcoming changes. However, he did not know anymore information and referred the news agency to speak with Jóhann Guðlaugsson himself.

Jóhann Guðlaugsson owns a collections of different retail stores such as Lundan, Óðinn, Thor and Jólahúsið. Photo by Haraldur Jónasson / Hari.

Jóhann Guðlaugsson, CEO of Arctic Shopping, has yet to make any comment on the matter. Despite attempts to contact the stores, no one is willing to make a statement.

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken its toll on Geysir.

In December last year, Morgunblaðið reported that the lack of tourists coming to Iceland had a huge impact on the business. The number of employees had been reduced and the company was seeking help from the Treasury’s action package as the stores were not generating enough income.

The company was also in talks with commercial banks about restructuring their debt.

Geysir has also removed their “Our Stores” page from their website and error messages appear on the site when trying to browse for clothes/knitwear.

More information will be added to this article if Jóhann Guðlaugsson/Artic Shopping makes an official statement on the matter.

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