The last major department store chain in Germany, Galeria, wants to close numerous branches, according to the General Works Council. Of the current 129 department stores with around 17,400 employees, 52 stores are to close their doors, the General Works Council of Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof GmbH announced on Monday. More than 5000,<> people are threatened with dismissal, it said. Galeria was initially unable to comment. The Group's Supervisory Board was scheduled to meet in the afternoon.
The department store chain has been sliding from one crisis to the next for years. Most recently, the official requirements in the Corona crisis had burdened the business, the group resorted to state aid, then the branches suffered from the reluctance of consumers after the Russian attack on Ukraine. In addition, home-made problems caused problems for the group, which belongs to the billion-dollar Signa Holding of the Austrian investor Rene Benko, which had merged Karstadt and Kaufhof. Two years ago, Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof had already closed a good 40 of the then 172 branches in the insolvency proceedings, with around 5000,<> employees losing their jobs.
More information coming soon.