The wavering trade giant Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof has resorted to the rescue package. What would be the consequences of an out of the goods group for Munich? An expert assesses the situation.
- In the corona crisis *, the retail giant Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof slipped under the rescue umbrella.
- Does this threaten Munich with the loss of several large department stores?
- The company speaks of immense losses.
Munich - It was a bang, even if it didn't come as a complete surprise: The department store group Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof sparked SOS on Wednesday. The retail giant, recently merged, is seeking protection under a rescue package . Could this mean the death of the traditional department stores in Munich, the end of the large and small Munich department stores in which citizens in the city and in some parts of the city have been supplying themselves for decades?
Has the over 100 year old idea of the department store finally survived? Tz asked the spokesman for the Bavarian Trade Association, Bernd Ohlmann. He is convinced that this is not the case. “We need the big department stores for the inner cities, that's the heart of every Bavarian municipality . Wherever there is such a department store, there is a high frequency of customers. ”The entire retail trade in the area benefits from this.
Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof in need: Handelsverband doesn't believe in the end of department stores
Trust in the strength of the retail giants: Bernd Ohlmann is spokesman for the Bavarian Trade Association.
© fkn
Ohlmann is certain that the "everything under one roof" concept will survive the Corona crisis . "Years ago, the end of department stores was predicted, which has always proven to be a mistake." Ohlmann is confident: "When the Corona battle is over and the smoke has cleared again, I'm pretty sure that Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof is still there . "
For the department store group, however, the protective shield procedure comes at a very bad time. "The restructuring of the department stores was on the right track before this crisis," said CFO Miguel Müllenbach. The Austrian real estate investor René Benko, whose Signa group initially took over Karstadt in 2014, praised the progress made in the restructuring process after the merger with Galeria Kaufhof in 2018 in early March. The job cuts were practically complete.
Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof: Short-time work requested and rental payments stopped
Now the remaining employees, in large houses around 500, in smaller ones around 100, have to worry about their jobs again . To reduce their own costs, the department store group had already applied for short-time work * for large parts of the workforce weeks ago. The rent payments for all department stores, sports stores, travel agencies and logistics properties have been stopped.
Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof claims to have lost more than 80 million euros in sales every week since March 18, when the department stores were closed. All hopes rest on the protective screen.
Just a few weeks ago, Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof took over a well-known sporting goods provider. Meanwhile, Adidas ensures the next hammer after the scandal of unpaid rental payments. The EU is putting together a € 100 billion package for employees and the self-employed.
* merkur.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital editors network.
Sebastian Hölzle / BW