Mansur and the end
In 1997, with debts of more than one billion reais, it filed for bankruptcy. In the same year, the shareholder control of Mesbla was acquired by the businessman Ricardo Mansur, who scooped 51% of the shares by 600 million reais, to be paid in ten years, and taking the tax debt of 350 million reais of the bankrupt. Nine months before he had bought the Mappin stores, traditional São Paulo state retail company. He intended to merge the two companies, making them profitable and resell them with profit.
Controversial businessman, Mansur, owner of dairy companies and a bank, was known both for his aggressive style as for his taste for ostentation. He maintains a mansion in London, where sponsors a polo team, to which he provides thoroughbred horses of his own creation. To fulfill the wishes of a daughter, he commissioned from a renowned architect from São Paulo a dollhouse, worth 300 000 dollars, which was installed on his farm in Indaiatuba.
In an attempt to save the Mesbla and Mappin, Mansur put companies ahead of the executive João Paulo Amaral. But João Paulo soon realized that he was on one of those missions regarded as impossible. The lack of money was more serious than previously thought; the delays in the payment of suppliers, chronic. Then began a series of bankruptcy filings, and eviction threats in every mall where the shops displayed their brands.
Mansur tried to use his influence with the politicians and even the pressure of the Mesbla and Mappin employees, through marches, to get money from the Brazilian Development Bank, a public bank. At the same time, he sought some foreign group interested in acquiring the stores. His credibility, however, began to be questioned when he began to spread false information to complete the deal. At the same time, the administration of his bank began to be investigated and fraudulent practices have been qualified, which resulted in its liquidation. Because of these practices, Mansur was arrested and had his assets blocked. A new arrest warrant was made by his ex-wife, for who he did not pay child support.
With so many problems, Mansur lost interest in the fate of Mesbla and Mappin. He flew to London and never returned to Brazil. The bankruptcy of both companies was enacted in July 1999, and the last Mesbla store to close its doors was the branch of Niterói on August 24, 1999.
At the same time, Lojas Brasileiras and G. Aronson ended their activities, two retail companies of national capital. Since then, the Brazilian retail market had to compete with foreign companies.
In 2009, it was advertised the comeback of Mesbla: an e-commerce company negotiated the purchase of name usage rights with Mansur and intended to open a site aimed at women in March 2010, with official launch in May of the same year. "The brand still has a positive appeal among consumers", evaluated a company director.[1] According to columnist Mônica Bergamo, in the edition of Folha de S.Paulo of June 3, 2009, the former owner of Mesbla, Ricardo Mansur, would have gone to New York City to accelerate contacts to advance the fastest possible the reopening of Mesbla, however, the initiative did not yield results.
