The Corona-crisis, Germany’s last major Department store chain hard. Hard cuts are now to ensure their Survival. This is not only for the thousands of Employees a bad message.
Essen (dpa) – It is a bad news not only for the thousands of employees of Galeria, Karstadt, Kaufhof, but also for many German inner cities: The last major German Department store group will close 62 of its 172 branches.
The learned the German press Agency from negotiating circles. What branches are affected, but remained open in the first place. The number of branch closures is at least slightly less than initially feared. Originally, management had signaled that in the Wake of the renovation of the EMS struggles to Survive the company, could be closed for up to 80 stores. However, could be prevented through concessions from landlords and workers, apparently, even worse.
But this is probably only a small consolation. According to the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger” is likely to lose around 6000 of the 28,000 employees their Job. Also, in many of the closures affected communities alarm atmosphere is likely to prevail. Norbert Portz by the German Association of towns and municipalities warned already known of the first closure plans in may before the risk of a degradation of many inner cities. “Galeria Kaufhof, Karstadt is not just anyone. The Department stores are for many inner cities relevant to the system,” he told the German press Agency. For many of the structurally weaker inner cities is to compensate for a loss of commodity houses according to his estimation, barely.
The trade Union Verdi warned at the time that a closure shaft, Galeria, Karstadt, Kaufhof will have an impact far beyond the boundaries of the company. In the medium term, tens of thousands of jobs in other retailers and the attractiveness of entire cities were threatened by this.
But the pressure to renovate at Galeria, Karstadt, Kaufhof is huge. The retail giant was advised by the pandemic closure of all branches of a conditional in a serious crisis and had to look at the beginning of April the rescue in a protective shield procedure. “We expect the billion revenue loss this year and did not also expect that the customer will buy in the coming year, as it had been before Corona. That is, until the end of 2022, the sales could increase losses even, to a total of around 1.4 billion euros,” said the General Manager Arndt Geiwitz in may, the problems of the group.
the rescue efforts were under great time pressure. By the end of the month, the group must submit a rehabilitation plan. In the past few weeks, the trade Union Verdi wrestled, the works Council and the management of the company bitterly, nevertheless, a matter of which victims must bring to the workers and to the cuts of the group can do without.
On Wednesday evening Verdi announced initial progress: The planned reduction of staff by ten percent in existing stores, as well as the spin-off of the Goods Service Teams (WST) to be “subject to the Reservation of a total solution from the table,” it said. But the struggle for a collective contract, an inter-eat ausleich for the termination of affected employees and a future concept for the group went on. Apparently with success. A corresponding agreement with the works Council and the trade unions should still be on Thursday evening signed.
the Details, however, should be only given to known on Friday. And by then, well, thousands of employees and many municipalities will have to adjust to a life without Galeria, Karstadt and Kaufhof.
