From the point of view of retail expert Thomas Roeb, the insolvency proceedings of the KaDeWe Group will not worsen the chances of rescue for the Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof locations. “Anyone who is interested in Galeria is not necessarily interested in the premium houses,” said the scientist from the Bonn-Rhein-Sieg University of Applied Sciences to the German Press Agency. “The premium area places special demands on the product range; different skills are required here than at the Galeria stores,” said Roeb.
The trading company KaDeWe Group with the luxury department stores KaDeWe in Berlin, Oberpollinger in Munich and Alsterhaus in Hamburg has filed for bankruptcy. In this way, the company wants to free itself, among other things, from excessively high rents, which, in the management’s opinion, make “sustainable, profitable business almost impossible.” According to the company, operations in the three stores continue.
50.1 percent of the KaDeWe Group belongs to the Central Group of the Thai family Chirathivat, 49.9 percent belongs to Signa Retail, which also includes Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof. Several observers assume that the Central Group will attempt to take over additional shares in the KaDeWe Group as part of the bankruptcy.
Signa Retail announced at the end of November that it would wind up its business in an orderly manner. Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof filed for insolvency proceedings three weeks ago. “It could still be interesting for the Central Group to take over some additional properties in top cities and to align them in the premium direction,” said the head of the BBE retail consultancy, Johannes Berentzen. He thinks the chances of saving a larger number of Galeria stores are higher Beyond that, however, it is considered small – the KaDeWe insolvency does not change that. (dpa)