Germany’s last large department store group, Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, has already closed numerous department stores this month as part of its restructuring efforts. An overview of the company on the Internet listed 19 branches as “closed” on Thursday. However, a company spokesman admitted that at least one of the listed stores – the Galeria branch in Frankfurt Zeil – is still selling out. However, the closure is only a matter of days. A further 22 branches are expected to close in January next year.
This week, however, the continuation of the Düsseldorf Schadowstraße branch, which was originally intended to be closed, was secured. In an employee letter available to the German Press Agency, Group CEO Olivier Van den Bossche wrote: “We are very pleased to be able to report that, through the mediation of the Mayor of the City of Düsseldorf, Dr. Stephan Keller, have reached an agreement with our landlord. That’s why we can continue our Düsseldorf Schadowstraße location.” Galeria will now do everything to make the branch successful.
Germany’s last large department store group had to seek rescue again in a protective shield procedure at the end of last year. The group has now completed the insolvency proceedings. However, the restructuring process continues. The restructuring plan, which has become legally binding, provides for the closure of around a third of the last 129 branches. According to previous plans, 88 branches should remain in the end.
According to the company, the branches Celle, Coburg, Cottbus, Duisburg Düsseldorfer Strasse, Frankfurt Zeil, Gelsenkirchen, Hagen, Hamburg-Harburg, Hamburg-Wandsbek, Leverkusen, Munich Am Bahnhof, Neuss, Nuremberg Königsstrasse, Nuremberg Langwasser, Offenbach, Paderborn, Saarbrücken at the train station, Siegen and Wiesbaden Kirchgasse.
The Berlin Wilmersdorfer Straße, Berlin Müllerstraße, Bielefeld, Darmstadt Am Weißen Turm, Essen, Esslingen, Hanau, Heidelberg Bismarckplatz, Hildesheim, Kempten, Krefeld, Leonberg, Limburg, Lübeck, Mönchengladbach, Pforzheim, Reutlingen branches are on the list of closures for January next year , Schweinfurt, Siegburg, Stuttgart Eberhardstrasse, Viernheim and Wuppertal. (dpa)