Following the announcement last month that Brazil’s Reichert Group was to close its tannery, 19 footwear factories, and last factory resulting in the loss of 5,000 jobs, there has been some positive news for the company’s workers. Some of the units will now be taken over by other firms who plan to continue operations at the sites. 

Companhia Industrial Brasil Espanha (Brespel), of Alagoinhas, in the state of Bahia, has taken over the Reichert tannery in Campo Bom and will retain 120 former Reichert employees with plans to take on more within the next 90 days. 

According to the local council, workers fro Reichert's headquarters and shoe factory in Campo Bom have already found employment at several other local firms whilst its last factory, also located in Campo Bom, has  been sold and is already under new management. Permission has also been granted for the establishment of a new children’s footwear factory in the town which will hire some of Reichert’s former employees.

The company’s shoe factory in Bom Principio has been leased by Calçados Paquetá, one of Brazil's most powerful footwear manufacturers and exporters, and will begin operating under Paqueta's management on September 15. It is expected to take on all of the 625 workers that lost their jobs.