The black page of the auctions for the family of Eleftheroudakis bookstores

of Matinas Harkoftaki

Six years after the final lockout that entered the emblematic store of the Eleftheroudakis bookstore in Panepistimiou, the financial impasse continues for the members of the family of the historic house that left its own mark in the book industry.

Apartments belonging to Sofia and Marina Eleftheroudaki, who have taken over the reins of the family business, representing the third generation, as well as properties owned by their mother, Virginia Eleftheroudaki, have become entangled in the auction nets.

The properties that are put up for auction

On May 25, the electronic hammer for three apartments and a roof in Paleo Psychiko is expected to strike, while Alpha Bank is in a hurry.

In particular, auctions have been launched for horizontal properties, which are located in a building, which has been constructed on a plot, even and buildable, which

extends over an area of ​​731.25 sq.m. and is located in Paleo Psychiko. With the starting price set at 426,700 euros, the first floor apartment, which is wholly owned by Marina Eleftheroudaki and has an area of ​​199.65 sq.m. and co-ownership rate 230/000.

Facing the auction will be an apartment on the second floor, which is wholly owned by Sofia Eleftheroudaki and has an area of ​​199.65 sq.m. while the price of the first offer amounts to 437,900 euros.

The electronic hammer will also strike for a horizontal property-apartment of the elevated ground floor in the same building, which is owned by Virginia Eleftheroudaki. This property has a total area of ​​141 sq.m. and co-ownership percentage 200/1000 while the first offer price has been set at 305,300 euros.

Virginia Eleftheroudaki also owns a roof of the third floor, which has an area of ​​34 sq.m. and goes for sale with the first offer price amounting to 85,800 euros. It should be noted that these properties carry a large number of promissory notes and mortgages to banks and the public.

The financial problems and the padlock

The above auctions are connected, among other things, with the dire financial situation in which the business activity of the bookstores and Eleftheroudakis publications fell.

The weak performance, which was largely due to the financial crisis of the last decade as well as the steady downward trends recorded in the book and the print editions in the digital age, initially led to the contraction of the bookstore network, which in 2011 amounted to 16 stores. with the final padlock ending.

The company, which remains active to this day, has in the past made an effort to prevent the fall, filing a request before the Court of First Instance to resume the debate on the ratification process of the consolidation process, but without any result.

Immersed in debt, the company failed to overcome the difficulties and despite efforts to limit its costs by moving the Athens main store to a smaller one, it finally could not avoid the padlock in September 2016 at the University store, putting the titles end in the history of bookstores which began in 1918, when Konstantinos Eleftheroudakis opened his own bookstore in Syntagma.