Galeria Kaufhof explains its new concept and contradicts the economic experts
Created: 11/14/2022, 7:00 p.m
By: Dominik Jahn
Many experts make a gloomy forecast for the future of department stores.
With its new concept, Galeria Kaufhof is now contradicting itself despite ongoing insolvency proceedings.
There will be three types of branches.
After the renewed bankruptcy shock for Galeria Kaufhof, there are gloomy forecasts for the future of the department stores.
An expert draws a tough Aldi comparison, as echo24.de reported.
He no longer sees any growth in customers.
When asked by our editors, Galeria Kaufhof has now commented on the new concept and thus contradicted the expert thesis.
Since October 2022, the department store chain has redesigned the first ten or so Galeria branches as part of the newly implemented Galeria 2.0 strategy.
According to their own statements, with success.
With this, when we first asked Kaufhof, they also explained which branches still have a future.
But how does gallery 2.0 work?
Galeria Kaufhof contradicts the forecasts of the experts with a new concept
According to economist Gerrit Heinemann, the end of department stores is in sight.
Galeria Kaufhof will therefore be found “primarily in metropolises or large cities with over 500,000 inhabitants”.
Cities like Heilbronn with almost 125,000 inhabitants would then have to close their branches.
Company: | Galeria Kaufhof |
|---|---|
CEO: | Miguel Mullenbach |
Founding: | 1879, Stralsund |
Founder: | Leonard Tietz |
Resolution: | 2020 |
If you now look at the plans behind the Galeria 2.0 concept, then the new strategy contradicts the expert thesis.
According to Kaufhof, echo24.de
said
: “It aims to respond even more specifically to the needs of the local population.
Basically, there are three types: branches in metropolises, regional magnets and local forums.”
Galeria Kaufhof relies on three types of branches - some will still close
According to the statements, branches of Galeria Kaufhof in smaller locations could also have a future with these “three types”.
For this purpose, the company differentiates on very important points: “In contrast to the more modern range of branches in the metropolises, the adapted range of the regional magnet combines modern and classic segments.
The local forum, on the other hand, forms a neighborhood format with a practically oriented range in smaller branches.”
What those responsible made clear right from the start, however, is that all branches are subject to an exclusion procedure:
"It will have to be parted with houses that can no longer be operated profitably due to these new conditions"
.
This also raises the question of potential investors.
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This is how the planning with investors at Galeria Kaufhof is going
Galeria Kaufhof also commented on this when asked.
It says: “There will be talks with all interested parties who are interested in commitments at Galeria locations.
In the first step, we want to know how interested parties basically imagine a commitment.”
Protective Shield Proceedings
According to the definition, the protective shield procedure is a special type of procedure under German insolvency law.
It combines provisional self-administration with the aim of submitting an insolvency plan at an early stage in order to facilitate the restructuring of companies.
After these talks, the company explains, Galeria renovation expert Arndt Geiwitz will create a so-called data room.
Interested parties can then - after looking at the data - then submit concrete offers.
Only then can negotiations begin.
After insolvency proceedings at Galeria Kaufhof: Which branches will close is still open
There are currently no exact timeframes for all of the projects.
Galeria Kaufhof points out that all of this "will not happen in the short term".
It is not yet certain which houses will be closed.
There will be talks with the landlords in the near future.
According to Galeria Kaufhof, this step involves not only the rent but also questions such as land use, energy-related renovations, modernization and construction measures and much more.
Whether a location can be maintained will also depend heavily on these discussions.