Renovation concept: Up to 80 locations before the end
The ailing department store chain Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof is threatened with the closure of up to 80 of its 170 branches. This emerges from an initial restructuring concept that was presented to the company's general works council on Friday. The number of closures could be reduced if landlords and other parties were willing to make concessions.
“The measures provided for in the draft restructuring plan are hard to beat in terms of cruelty and are a general attack on all employees,” says a press release from the general works council. Overall, there could be a reduction of around 5000 full-time positions.
Management had already announced tough cuts in a letter to employees. It says that Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof “lost more than half a billion euros during the period of complete closure”. The sales of the last eight weeks, including the important Easter business, were missing and the backlog cannot be made up. “Overall, the loss in sales is likely to increase to up to one billion euros.”
