The online retailer buero.de has withdrawn its offer to take over almost 50 branches of the ailing department store group Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof. “We have indeed withdrawn our offer for the 47 branches,” said buero.de boss Markus Schön on Thursday evening of the German Press Agency The conflict situation that has developed leads to changed framework conditions that are not acceptable to us,” he continued. The committees decided that after meetings lasting several hours. Other media had previously reported.
Galeria works council calls withdrawal from buero.de “frustrating”
The works council of the ailing department store group Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof has expressed disappointment that the online retailer buero.de has withdrawn its takeover bid for branches. “It would have been an opportunity,” said Galeria chairman Jürgen Ettl of the German Press Agency on Friday. “It’s a bit frustrating that the towel was thrown in so quickly.” The first talks were constructive.
First takeover bid for Galeria
Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof announced on Wednesday that it had received an initial takeover bid for a number of branches. This still exists, said the spokesman for the retail giant on Thursday evening of the German Press Agency. Before Christmas, the company is expecting further offers from several other interested parties. For reasons of confidentiality, the spokesman did not want to comment on the names of the interested parties and the question of which houses the potential investors were interested in.
The last large German department store group had again sought rescue in a protective shield procedure at the end of October. Galeria boss Miguel Müllenbach said at the time that the branch network, which last comprised 131 department stores, had to “be reduced by at least a third” as part of the protective shield procedure. This means that more than 40 department stores are available.
According to the Galeria spokesman, it has not yet been decided how many and which branches are to be closed. The company is currently in talks with the landlords. In addition to the rent itself, there are also other questions such as a possible reduction in the rental area, energy-related renovations or modernization and construction measures. Whether a location can be retained will also depend heavily on these talks. “We assume that there will be clarity about this in the course of January next year,” said the spokesman.
New concept for Galeria?
Ettl called for a new department store concept. “It needs a concept that takes customers and employees with it,” he said. The digital and the stationary business must form a homogeneous unit in which the added value is visible to everyone. “I think the department store has a place.”
Despite the difficult situation, Ettl says that Galeria’s current Christmas business is above expectations. “Thanks to the customers for this – and as a works council, a special thanks to the colleagues who have done this despite the great uncertainty.”
Markus Schön sticks to “Schön hier”.
With the withdrawal of the takeover bid for Galeria, buero.de boss Markus Schön’s wish for his own department store chain has by no means been buried. The expansion of the online retailer will take place with the establishment of “Schön-here-Orte” under its own steam, the Detmold company for office supplies announced on Thursday evening.
The company has already considered a possible first location for a model project: the Galeria location in Halle an der Saale, which will close at the end of the year. A part of the department store with around 15,000 square meters of retail space is available for re-letting. Initial contacts between landlords and buero.de are said to have already been made.
The online retailer sees a hurdle in the minimum number of branches and the recruitment of qualified staff. The previously intended takeover of 47 Galeria locations would have been “perfect”, but the concept of buero.de could also be implemented well with 25 locations. “So far we have not seen any unrealistic expectations there and it is of course very appealing to have an established location to make our department store concept “Schön hier” really successful,” says Managing Director Markus Schön. (dpa / FashionUnited)
Editor’s note: This post was updated at 11:30 a.m. on December 23 with further information from buero.de and the German Press Agency.