Real is temporarily closing 33 branches – what customers need to know

Created: 08/18/2022, 12:25 p.m

By: Mick Oberbusch

Real is closing 33 branches - behind it are renovation work (symbolic picture).

© Michael Gstettenbauer/Imago

The supermarket chain Real is closing 33 of its branches at short notice.

However, there is no final closure behind it.

Cologne – The topic of Real's break-up occupied customers all over Germany for a long time.

After the break-up of the hypermarket chain, through which individual branches were taken over by other supermarket chains such as Rewe, Kaufland and Co. and some had to be closed completely, there were also stores left that under the “Mein Real” mantle for customers, so to speak continue "as usual" and remain visible as Real branches.

But now, according to 24RHEIN, Real is closing a total of 33 branches throughout Germany from August 15th - what's behind it?

Real is temporarily closing 33 branches across Germany - what's behind it

"We are renewing the digital infrastructure in our store - so that we can continue to offer you convenient services for your shopping in the future," Real announced at the beginning of June.

"Unfortunately, we have to close our store for three days." The following branches are affected by the transitional closure (always Monday to Wednesday):

• 15 to 17 August:

  Raisdorf-Schwentinental, Schiffdorf-Spaden, Stuhr, Brakel and Wülfrath

• August 22 to 24:

  Helmstedt, Wolfsburg, Wernigerode, Hermsdorf/Irxleben and Salzgitter-Thiede

• August 29th to 31st:

  Böblingen, Ettlingen, Donaueschingen, Oberndorf am Neckar, Weingarten and Bühl-Vimbuch

• September 5th to 7th:

  Wetzlar, Ingelheim, Karlsruhe/Bulach, Saarlouis, Bexbach and Ludwigshafen

• September 12th to 14th:

  Wuppertal-Langerfeld, Heiligenhaus, Euskirchen, Cologne-Sülz, Düsseldorf-Heerdt and Übach-Palenberg

• September 19th to 21st:

  Monschau, Herne, Coesfeld, Dinslaken, Kamp-Lintfort and Nordwalde

Out for the supermarket chain – what happened to Real?

The hypermarket chain Real has been ailing for several years.

In the spring of 2020, the Russian investor SCP bought the ailing chain from the Düsseldorf-based Metro group.

However, with one goal: to break up and resell the Real branches.

However, the Federal Cartel Office had to examine the project before Real's owner SCP got a chance.

Since the large supermarket chains Kaufland and Edeka were particularly interested in the Real stores, the Cartel Office had to examine the competitive background.

Due to this detailed examination, the start of the Real break-up initially took a little longer than expected.

In December 2020 and March 2021, the Kaufland, Edeka and Globus authorities approved the acquisition of Real branches, albeit with certain conditions.

However, not all Real locations belong to the investor SCP, at least the majority.

Real: Branches in NRW are also temporarily closing

Many NRW customers will therefore have to prepare for a temporary closure from mid-September;

Cologne, Düsseldorf, Wuppertal or Dinslaken, among others, will then be closed temporarily.

After these three days, the respective branch is open again as usual.