Less-than-expected Galeria, Karstadt, Kaufhof closes a third of its stores

The Department store group's Galeria, Karstadt and Kaufhof will close 62 of its remaining 172 branches. In a first draft of the reorganization plan, the speech was still to close 80 branches. On Thursday evening, a binding should be signed a social plan which was negotiated between the employer and the employee side.

Jonas Jansen

economic correspondent in Düsseldorf.

negotiated for Four days, Galeria, Karstadt, Kaufhof has with the trade Union Verdi, now, apparently, a good 6,000 jobs will be deleted. Overall, Karstadt, Kaufhof has more than 32,000 employees, should be notified on Friday about the plans. Lopped the branches of Karstadt Sports and the travel business is likely to be. Job cuts will also be in the company's headquarters. The reorganization plan, however, must still approve the Committee of creditors of the company, which advises on the next Monday.

Stephan Fanderl, Chairman of the management Board of Galeria, Karstadt, Kaufhof, had resigned in the past week. The separation success, "consensus," it said. Galeria, Karstadt, Kaufhof had requested at the beginning of April, a protective shield proceedings in self-administration, after the negotiation was failed on a KfW loan in the amount of 700 million euros. By the statutorily mandated closure during the Corona-crisis, the company lost 500 million euros in revenue, it says.

The client

Because of the risk of infection is customer frequency remained even after the re-opening of a persistently low. The company expects a revenue loss of 1 billion euros. In an internal letter from the chief representative of Karstadt, Kaufhof had been notified, Arndt Geiwitz, that "no later than August 2020 other cash and cash equivalents in the three-digit millions are needed."

in addition to the ongoing dialogue with the employee representatives, the Trustee and the management negotiated at the same time with the landlord and suppliers, in order to bring the costs under control. The overall works Council Chairman Jürgen Ettl had asked the landlords to make concessions, because the was the house the group were for many years loyal tenant and the future, not only to the employees hang could.