The headlines about Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof never end. According to speculation, more employees than previously known have to fear for their jobs. In addition, significantly more branches could be affected by a closure than originally expected.
Up to 90 Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof branches could reportedly close, the Lebensmittel-Zeitung reported on Monday. The industry magazine referred to an internal communication from the general works council to the approximately 17,000 employees of the company.
At the end of October, company boss Miguel Müllenbach gave a significantly lower number in an interview with the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”. At that time, there was only talk of a reduction in the company network “by at least a third”. With 131 department stores, it would be around 40 stores.
“It is not yet clear which stores will be closed,” a spokesman for Galeria commented on the rumors when asked by FashionUnited. There will only be clarity about which branches will be closed after discussions with the landlords in January. The spokesman did not comment on the content of the internal communication from the general works council.
According to the letter, the employees are not only affected by the branch closures, but also by further staff reductions. In the branches alone, up to thirty percent of the workforce could be affected by job cuts. According to Lebensmittel-Zeitung, the company’s service center, facility management and travel department are also said to be affected by a potential wave of layoffs. Accordingly, the management wants to reduce half of the staff in the service center, while the facility management area is to be outsourced. According to the media report, the employees in the travel department could be transferred to their own company.