After decades as one of Israel’s largest clothing groups, Honigman entered court protection in February 2018 with approximately NIS 234 million in declared debts, including NIS 128 million owed to banks and NIS 13 million owed to employees. The brothers Yaakov and Micha Honigman had reportedly sold real estate, mortgaged their private home in Herzliya Pituah, and injected personal funds into the business, but the chain’s 150-store retail model was buckling under online competition, overseas shopping, expensive leases, and an increasingly outdated in-store experience. The breakup was brutal: roughly 700 employees faced dismissal, suppliers, fabric manufacturers, and sewing workshops were expected to recover little or nothing, and the women’s chain ultimately closed after no buyer emerged. In March and April, trustees negotiated the sale of the children’s operation and selected stores to Avni-Shoham Ofna, owner of KIWI, first proposing 56 locations for NIS 8 million and later securing court approval for 38 stores at NIS 6.25 million. The Tel Aviv District Court also approved the sale of a building owned by the brothers for about NIS 20.3 million and ordered an investigation into an apparent inflation of inventory: stock initially presented as worth roughly NIS 120 million was reassessed at only NIS 38.5 million to NIS 43 million. Honigman Kids survived under new ownership, while the historic women’s chain disappeared and TNT later suffered another debt crisis, turning the episode into a stark example of how retail debt, lease obligations, weak asset valuations, and mass employment losses can dismantle a once-dominant fashion group.
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AI concept artworkArchive Record · 2010s
The 2018 Collapse of Honigman: NIS 234 Million in Debt, Mass Dismissals, and a Suspect Inventory Valuation
Honigman, Honigman Kids, and TNT / 2010s
After decades as one of Israel’s largest clothing groups, Honigman entered court protection in February 2018 with approximately NIS 234 million in declared debts, including NIS 128 million owed to banks and NIS 13 million owed to employees. The brothers Yaakov and Micha Honigman had reportedly sold real estate, mortgaged their private home in Herzliya Pituah, and injected personal funds into the business, but the chain’s 150-store retail model was buckling under online competition, overseas shopping, expensive leases, and an increasingly outdated in-store experience. The breakup was brutal: roughly 700 employees faced dismissal, suppliers, fabric manufacturers, and sewing workshops were expected to recover little or nothing, and the women’s chain ultimately closed after no buyer emerged. In March and April, trustees negotiated the sale of the children’s operation and selected stores to Avni-Shoham Ofna, owner of KIWI, first proposing 56 locations for NIS 8 million and later securing court approval for 38 stores at NIS 6.25 million. The Tel Aviv District Court also approved the sale of a building owned by the brothers for about NIS 20.3 million and ordered an investigation into an apparent inflation of inventory: stock initially presented as worth roughly NIS 120 million was reassessed at only NIS 38.5 million to NIS 43 million. Honigman Kids survived under new ownership, while the historic women’s chain disappeared and TNT later suffered another debt crisis, turning the episode into a stark example of how retail debt, lease obligations, weak asset valuations, and mass employment losses can dismantle a once-dominant fashion group.
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