According to its own statements, the Aachener fashion chain has made preparations for the takeover and continuation of initially four previous Galeria Kaufhof locations. It is about the Galeria houses in Coburg, Cottbus, on the Frankfurt Zeil and in Nuremberg-Langwasser, said managing director Friedrich Göbel on Wednesday.
Göbel explained that his company had already signed the leases for the four properties. The contracts would become legally effective as soon as the previous tenant had given notice. For a number of other Galeria locations, there are “well advanced negotiations” on leases, Göbel said. These would result in further rentals.
Aachener assumes that by February 2024 between ten and 25 previous Galeria locations can be rented and continued. According to the information, so-called Aachen department stores are to be built on the areas. Göbel wants to announce the concept for this at the beginning of April. All previous Galeria employees would be taken on if they wished.
Trade union secretary Jaana Hampel from Verdi in Middle Franconia was initially reluctant. “We are still fighting for this branch and for the jobs,” she said in Nuremberg to the German Press Agency. Verdi is planning a rally in front of the Galeria location in Nuremberg-Langwasser on Thursday and another on Friday in downtown Nuremberg should be called upon to preserve the branches.
Galeria announced on Monday last week that it wanted to close 52 of the last 129 department stores. The number of branches to be closed was later reduced to 47. Thousands of jobs are affected.
Aachener currently operates seven branches in Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia, Baden-Württemberg and Schleswig-Holstein. Göbel was previously the head of the fashion chain Sinn. (dpa)