For the most part no takers
The lights will soon go out in Real supermarkets
November 21, 2023, 2:03 a.m
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The Real supermarket chain will soon disappear from the image of many cities. Only a fraction of the markets will be transferred to the competition; the majority will disappear without replacement. Several thousand employees are facing layoffs.
The ailing supermarket chain Real is on the verge of collapse. The company is giving several branches to competitors and wants to close the last stores by the end of March 2024. As Real announced in Mönchengladbach, 14 stores are to be transferred to its competitor Rewe, three branches to Kaufland and one store to Edeka. The Federal Cartel Office still has to approve some of the plans. The remaining 45 stores will be closed by March 31, 2024 because “despite intensive efforts, no buyer has yet been found” for these locations.
The hypermarket chain Mein Real filed an application to open self-administered insolvency proceedings in September. It was said at the time that more than 5,000 employees in 62 stores and the headquarters in Mönchengladbach were affected. The insolvency proceedings under self-administration should make it possible to maintain business operations and to conduct negotiations with competitors about the possible takeover of locations. The chain is owned by the financial investor SCP. He initially sold the company in June 2022, but bought it back in May 2023 in view of the “critical economic situation”.
SCP acquired the Real chain with its 276 stores at the time from the Metro trading group in 2020 in order to break it up and sell it on. Kaufland, Edeka, Globus and Rewe secured a large number of the most attractive branches. The company with the remaining 62 locations then went to the family office of the Tischendorf family of entrepreneurs in the summer of 2022 before it was acquired back by SCP in May.
Bojan Luncer, CEO of real GmbH, said that with the transfer of 18 “my real stores” a long-term perspective was secured for around 1,500 employees. “Despite intensive efforts, the closure of stores is unavoidable given the difficult situation of real GmbH.” Discussions would be held with the works council with the aim of concluding a reconciliation of interests and a social plan.