After termination of cooperation Apple: Lab9 acquires 15 stores from Switch | Technique

At the end of April, Switch announced that it would continue as a used electronics store under the name Hubside.Store. Thus this will happen with a significant reduction in the number of physical stores. Fifteen of the 21 Switch stores were sold to Lab9. This is an electronics chain, as an “Apple Premium Distributor”, which has close cooperation with the iPhone maker.

In addition to stores, Lab9 will also take over more than a hundred Switch employees. In doing so, the legal framework will be followed, Switch CEO Harold Vanheel tells our editors. “When a trading fund is sold, the existing rights and obligations are preserved,” the CEO said.

Bart Lippert, a unionist at BBK, said that the trade unions received an explanation during the private business council meeting. Talking about a good solution. No stores closing and no one getting laid off. “It’s literally been said that it’s a company undergoing a transformation, not a reorganization,” says Lippert.

Lab9 also handles Apple hardware repair. The acquisition will result in more than twice the number of Lab9 sites: 11 to 26 press release† Lab9 expects to generate annual sales of approximately €85 million by the end of 2022.

The Switch stores that Lab9 will be in charge of are: Aartselaar, Antwerp Noorderlaan, Antwerp Theatre, Mons, Brussels Woluwe, Tournai, Erpent, Genk, Hasselt, Leuven, Louvain-La-Neuve, Mechelen, Olen, Sint-Martens-Latem, Turnhout.

Switch stores in Ghent, Waasland Shopping, and Wijnegem Shopping will become Hubside. Store locations in the coming weeks, as has already happened in stores in Charleroi, Nivelles and Liège.