Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof is planning hard cuts, around a third of all department stores are closing. A concession by the landlord now ensures that six branches that have actually been depreciated remain. Hundreds of employees can breathe a sigh of relief.
Germany's last major department store group, Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, wants to close six branches less than originally planned, according to the landlord's concessions. For the Karstadt department stores in Dortmund, Nuremberg Lorenzkirche, Goslar and Potsdam and the Kaufhof branches in Chemnitz and Leverkusen, there is now a future perspective again, said the CEO Miguel Müllenbach in an employee letter. As a result, around 750 employees keep their jobs.
In difficult negotiations, it was possible to adjust the economic framework in such a way that the branches could be continued, emphasized the manager, who led the negotiation team himself. For the remaining 56 department stores on the closure list, however, given the high rents and socio-demographic location disadvantages, "there is still no prospect of an economic continuation".
Closings a "step without alternative"
Just two weeks ago, the retail giant had announced the closure of a total of 62 branches in 47 cities to the dismay of many employees and the affected municipalities. At that time the general representative Arndt Geiwitz emphasized: "This step is without alternative, because these branches endanger the entire existence of the company." A little later it became known that the group also wants to close 20 out of 30 branches of the subsidiary Karstadt Sports and up to 24 branches of Karstadt Feinkost.
In the affected municipalities, the announcements triggered concerns about the desolation of inner cities in many cases. The Vice President of the German Association of Cities, Markus Lewe, said: "The massive closings of branches at Karstadt Kaufhof are a deep cut for the cities concerned. With these department stores, a place of supply and encounter is lost."
Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof had suffered a severe crisis due to the pandemic closure of all branches and had to seek rescue in a protective shield procedure in early April. The company expects the pandemic and the economic downturn that it triggers to result in sales of up to 1.4 billion euros by the end of 2022.
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