“Signal for 16,700 employees”
Habeck grants Galeria new state aid
01/25/2022 at 6:23 p.m
Germany’s last major department store group, Galeria, needs millions more from the state. The poor Christmas business has spoiled the recovery course for the chain. Economics Minister Habeck grants the funds with reference to the enormous importance of department stores for inner cities.
The ailing department store group Galeria gets another loan from the state. The federal government is providing a loan of 220 million euros through its Economic Stabilization Fund (WSF). The editorial network Germany learned that the interministerial WSF committee decided on a corresponding offer of help at its meeting in the afternoon.
The department store group, which was formed in 2019 from the merger of competitors Karstadt and Galeria Kaufhof, is to receive the sum as a silent participation. In addition, 30 million euros of the first aid loan of 460 million euros are to be transferred to the silent partnership. The silent participation thus has a total volume of EUR 250 million, of which EUR 220 million is “fresh” money.
131 department stores in Germany
“Two years of the pandemic are a particular burden, especially for the inner cities. Stationary trade in particular is struggling with the restrictions. We have therefore decided that the economic stabilization fund will help Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof again,” said Economics Minister Robert Habeck to the RND . “This is an important signal for the company and its approximately 16,700 employees,” said the Green politician. “Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, with its 131 department stores, is of enormous importance for many inner cities. It is therefore the right thing to do to help in this difficult situation.”
The department store group belongs to the company empire of the Austrian real estate billionaire René Benko. Galeria had already received a loan of 460 million euros from the WSF in early 2021 to ensure liquidity in the pandemic. Galeria was then on the right track and even hired 2,500 new employees in the first half of the year, the group announced at the beginning of December. But the sluggish Christmas business due to high incidences would have led to a sharp drop in the number of visitors in the city centers, it said.