German supermarket chain Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof is facing a serious financial problem, a trade newspaper writes Handelsblatt. In a letter to employees, the company said it was looking for “new capital.” The group had already knocked on the government’s door for additional state aid. In January, the company also received help from Berlin.
Earlier this month, Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof had already announced that the company wanted to cancel the collective labor agreement. According to this collective labor agreement, this is only possible if the company ends up in an “economic emergency that threatens the survival of the company.” This situation must also have arisen as a result of an external event.
According to insiders, the department store chain has been going poorly for some time. In 2020, there were also major financial problems. Since the beginning of this year, consumer willingness to buy has declined and energy prices have risen sharply. The supermarket chain has about 130 branches and is already taking all kinds of measures to reduce heating costs.
Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof was created a few years ago when department store chains Galeria Kaufhof and Karstadt both became owned by the Austrian company Signa.
The company is working to reduce the number of supermarkets and transform them into a single new chain called Galeria. However, the economy is not going well. The rise of online shopping is also hampering the chain. The company also owns the Belgian supermarket chain Galeria Inno.
