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Food/Leipzig. The union Verdi plans protest actions against the announced end of Galeria Kaufhof in Leipzig. "We will fight for the store," said Torsten Furgol, head of the state's retail division, on Tuesday. It would be a "supergau" if such a large space remained empty in the middle of Leipzig's city center. There are already other vacancies in the city.
The specific actions planned are currently being coordinated with the approximately 160 employees of the department store. Furgol said that Verdi could imagine signature collections or a human chain. However, this would only make sense if the employees were also behind the protest. According to Furgol, support for the protest will also be sought from local and state politicians. The union says that the employees who are facing job losses have foregone part of their pay over the years.
Galeria closure: disappointment in Leipzig, joy in Chemnitz
Germany's last major department store group Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof had announced on Monday that it would close its store in Leipzig as well as 51 other stores nationwide. There is "no positive continuation perspective" for the locations, the group said. The Leipzig Neumarkt location is also affected by the closure plans. The store is scheduled to close in June 2023.
For Saxony's other department stores, however, this is good news: As early as December, the Chemnitz department store was sold to Höffner owner Kurt Krieger. sold As reported by the Freie Presse, heard Chemnitz to the 77 sites that will continue to operate in the future. "We now have clarity. Galeria Chemnitz is part of the continuation portfolio," Torsten Dunkelmann, head of the Chemnitz Galeria store, is quoted as saying.
Chemnitz Mayor Ralph Burghart commented that he was pleased because the announcement could be seen as a success of the efforts for the Chemnitz location. "Further developments are now up to the negotiations of the Galeria Group as well as the new owner of the property, the Krieger Group." According to Burghart, the future of the store lies in a "multifunctional approach that goes beyond the pure shopping experience."
The Galeria store in Dresden will also be retained. As things stand at present, it is not affected by closure plans.
These department stores close
"For Leipzig, the closure of Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof is disappointing, especially for the dedicated employees it is a bitter blow," explained Clemens Schülke, Head of the Department of Economic Affairs. The task at hand is to realign the city center. Inner cities in Europe have always been more than pure consumption. About four years ago, the historic Karstadt department store had already closed. There are currently some vacancies in shopping centers.
The Leipzig Left Member of the Bundestag and City Councillor Sören Pellmann demanded Lord Mayor Burkhard Jung and the state government to act. "The last word on the closure plans for the last universal department store in the trade fair city of Leipzig must not be spoken by a long shot."
These department stores are closing, the overview:
To close on June 30, 2023:
Celle, Coburg, Cottbus, Duisburg Düsseldorfer Straße, Erlangen, Gelsenkirchen, Hagen, Hamburg-Harburg, Hamburg-Wandsbek, Leipzig Neumarkt, Leverkusen, Munich-Bahnhof, Neuss, Nuremberg Königstraße, Nuremberg-Langwasser, Offenbach, Paderborn, Regensburg Neupfarrplatz, Saarbrücken am Bahnhof, Siegen, Wiesbaden Kirchgasse.
Close on January 31, 2024:
Bayreuth, Berlin-Charlottenburg, Berlin-Müllerstraße, Bielefeld, Braunschweig, Bremen, Darmstadt am weißen Turm, Dortmund, Düsseldorf Schadowstraße, Essen, Esslingen, Frankfurt Zeil, Hanau, Heidelberg Bismarckplatz, Hildesheim, Kempten, Krefeld, Leonberg, Limburg, Lübeck, Mönchengladbach, Oldenburg, Pforzheim, Reutlingen, Rosenheim, Rostock, Schweinfurt, Siegburg, Stuttgart-Eberhard-Strasse, Viernheim-RNZ, Wuppertal.
Habeck regrets closure of Galeria department stores
In the meantime, the Minister of Economics Robert Habeck expressed his regret at the announced branch closures. The decision was difficult for the employees affected, said the Green politician on Monday (local time) on the sidelines of a visit to Brasilia.
He said it was regrettable that this decision had come about as a result of the insolvency proceedings. Now it will be the task of the social partners to find a solution that makes it as easy as possible for the people affected to find a new job.
Company must become "smaller and more decentralized
At the end of October, Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof had to seek rescue in a protective insolvency procedure for the second time in less than three years. In a letter to employees at the time, Group CEO Miguel Müllenbach cited skyrocketing energy prices and the consumer slump in Germany as the reasons for the company's threatening situation. From the outset, the manager left no doubt that the renewed restructuring would involve substantial cuts to the store network and significant job losses.
This is already the second attempt to get the retail giant back on track for lasting success through a protective shield procedure and the associated debt cut. A first attempt, launched in 2020 during the first Corona lockdown, had brought the company only temporary relief despite the closure of around 40 stores, the elimination of around 4,000 jobs and the cancellation of more than two billion euros in debt.
Already in early 2021 and again in early 2022, the shrunken retail giant had to ask for government support in the face of the pandemic. In total, the Economic Stabilization Fund (WSF) came to the aid of the traditional company with 680 million euros in two aid campaigns - without success.
Galeria's chief representative Arndt Geiwitz, who had also accompanied the first protective shield proceedings as a restructuring expert, recently expressed confidence that there was still a perspective for the department store group thanks to the second protective shield proceedings. "I am convinced that the Galeria department stores have a future, even if not in their current form," the restructuring expert stressed in an interview.
However, the retail giant would have to become smaller and more decentralized to achieve this. Galeria will hopefully make a profit again "in three calendar years". Before that, further losses would certainly be incurred due to the restructuring costs, for example for conversions. (dpa)
