This month it should be known which department stores Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof intends to close as part of the insolvency proceedings. The managing director of the Cologne Institute for Trade Research (IFH), Boris Hedde, also sees positive aspects of the impending wave of closures. “These vacancies are more of an opportunity than a danger for inner cities,” said the industry expert at the German Press Agency. Because the importance of department stores for most inner cities is now manageable.
“The closure of Galeria branches will not be a hard blow for the large metropolises. Because the department stores there are no longer big footfall generators,” says the expert. The situation is somewhat different in smaller towns, where the department store still tends to take on supply functions. For the smaller municipalities, it is therefore particularly important after a department store closure to create new opportunities for people to come to the city center.
However, he believes that an attempt to simply continue with the same business model in the old Galeria properties would be doomed to failure. Instead, you will often see mixed uses. But Hedde also says: “In most cases, it will take years for the properties abandoned by Galeria to find a new long-term use.”(dpa)