The German department store group Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, which belongs to the billion-dollar holding company Signa of the Tyrolean real estate juggler René Benko, presented the long-awaited list to the supervisory board on Monday of which branches will be closed and which will be continued.
According to this list, 52 of the 129 houses are closing completely so far. However, it is possible that there are additional concessions from the respective landlords, so that individual houses can still be saved. It is also not yet clear whether part of the 77 locations that will be retained will be taken over by other retailers or investors.
Filed for bankruptcy in February
The court in Essen, Germany, opened insolvency proceedings for the last major German department store chain at the beginning of February. The court then gave the go-ahead for the self-administered process after timely submission of an agreement to the court.
More than 5,000 jobs will be lost
The general works council of Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof GmbH announced on Monday that more than 5,000 of the approximately 17,400 employees are threatened with dismissal. The company has not yet commented on the planned store closures.
According to news agency Reuters, the group’s supervisory board will meet in the afternoon. Galeria Kaufhof has been plagued by crises for years. First the corona pandemic weighed on the department store chain, then it suffered from the economic consequences of the Russian offensive war in Ukraine.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
