As of: February 4, 2024, 9:20 p.m
By: Andreas Höß
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Following the bankruptcy of Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, more department stores across Germany are likely to close.
But what do you do with the huge blocks in the city centers?
Munich – The Karstadt on Schützenstraße and the Kaufhof on Stachus: Munich already has two huge department stores that are empty.
After the bankruptcy of Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof (GKK) in January, the future of the remaining four GKK branches in Munich is also uncertain.
Other cities are also threatened with a similar fate.
Vacancy on average for five years
GKK is looking for investors who should submit their offers by February 11th.
Nevertheless, many of the 92 GKK houses in Germany are probably on the verge of extinction.
Is there a future use for them?
Or will the properties remain orphaned?
An analysis by Munich trade consultants Johannes Berentzen and Lars Jähnichen provides evidence of this.
It shows: from the last wave of closures at GKK in 2019/2020 alone, over half of the buildings are still unused today.
On average, it takes four to five years for life to return to a department store, sometimes longer.
“A negative example is Velbert in North Rhine-Westphalia,” says Berentzen.
The Hertie was closed there in 2009, after which all investors failed.
In 2018, the city acquired the house and demolished it.
Shops will not open there again until 2027.
The Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof department store chain has four branches in Munich.
Here: at Munich's Marienplatz.
© Oliver Bodmer
“It depends on the location and the possibilities of the property”
But things can also be better, say Jähnichen and Berentzen - and cite Augsburg as an example, where Schuh Schmid completely took over the old Kaufhof in 2015.
Rather unusual, several users usually have to share the huge blocks.
In Düsseldorf, the Karstadt, which closed in 2014, was converted into “The Crown”, including Edeka, parking garage and hotel.
After the closure in 2009, the Hertie in Gelsenkirchen mutated into the “Linden-Karree” with restaurants, apartments and retail stores by 2014.
And in Dortmund the old Karstadt was torn down and a new building was built with student apartments, a hotel, shops, a fitness studio and a restaurant.
So the second life often exists.
“It usually boils down to mixed use,” says Jähnichen.
There is no patent recipe.
“It depends on the location and the possibilities of the property.” The conversion to living space is only realistic if there are enough window areas and light wells for apartments.
“In Munich this is relatively easy at Rotkreuzplatz; luxury apartments might also be possible on the upper floor at Stachus.”
Empty department stores: temporary use is extremely important
In many cases, the conversion into apartments fails due to costs and building regulations.
According to the consultants, there is no need to worry about large houses in metropolises.
Thanks to a lot of tourism, culture, passing customers and strong companies, many uses are conceivable there.
Since the search for investors, tenants and the renovation often take years, something has to be found for the transition.
Munich was on the right track.
A colorful mix of art, gastronomy, sport and retail, the “Lovecraft”, wanted to move into the Kaufhof am Stachus quite quickly.
The initiators had invested a lot of money, the city approved a grant and the project celebrated its opening in September.
The lights went out again in December due to construction defects, a lack of permits and fire safety problems.
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Now the tablecloth now seems torn.
“It shouldn't work like that under any circumstances,” say Jähnichen and Berentzen, who point out how important temporary use is to bridge the often years-long vacancy.
“To ensure that something like this doesn’t happen, everyone has to sit down at the table in advance and clarify the most important questions: the landlord, the tenant and the city.” The city has to be accommodating when it comes to approvals and, under certain circumstances, even generously support them in order to avoid vacancies .
Because in the end it is the most expensive for everyone.