Leapp restarts in The Netherlands

Leapp is being restarted by the Dutch investment company Nobel Capital Partners and founder Rogier van Camp. Fourteen stores in the Netherlands and the webshop will open again in the short term.

This means Leapp will no longer be active in Germany after the restart. The new owners say they are looking for a possible continuation of the Belgian activities. The refurbished Apple seller aims to reopen its branches and webshop in the last week of July. The stores in Almere, Apeldoorn and Tilburg remain permanently closed. Fourteen other shops will open again and therefore the jobs of about a hundred employees have been secured.

Nobel Capital Partners has confidence in a healthy future for Leapp, says partner Pieter Schroeder. He points to the rapid development that the refurbished Apple vendor went through after its foundation in 2011. Leapp quickly became market leader in refurbished Apple equipment. After the restart, the company will focus on its core activities in the Netherlands as an omnichannel retailer, creating a solid basis for renewed growth, according to Pieter Schroeder.

Van Camp will continue to be associated with Leapp as a co-owner. He is pleased with the restart with Nobel as majority shareholder. With the increased name recognition of Leapp, consumer interest in recycled laptops, telephones and tablets has grown, he says. "Circularity remains an important core value after the restart and Leapp continues to strive to increase its market share for refurbished Apple equipment."

Leapp was forced to apply for bankruptcy last month after talks about a new financing came to nothing. The retailer had 24 branches in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany at the time of the bankruptcy, 14 of those branches will reopen at the end of July.