Einzelhandel: Galeria stürzt ab, wechselnde Eigner wurden „sehr reich“: Wie Investoren die Warenhäuser jahrelang ausnahmen

The festive start to the holiday season was always the peak of the year for Karstadt and Kaufhof. The festively decorated storefronts of these retailers lured families to the city center. In the last three months of the year, these stores accounted for nearly half of the annual turnover and a significant portion of their profits.

Now, perhaps even a successful fourth quarter cannot save the insolvent company Galeria, which is today owned by Galeria. Providing insolvency payments to employees probably only prolongs the suffering, as the crisis has progressed to such an extent that even the majority of the inventory no longer belongs to the retailer. Shelves displaying shirts and sweatshirts from the Fynch Hatton brand or Fissler saucepans, for example, are barricaded with red-and-white tape.

A sign reads: "This brand is temporarily out of stock." Like many other suppliers, the manufacturers have given a property interest in their goods to the company. This amounts to nearly half of the inventory. And the rest of the product range has been taken over by Gordon Brothers as collateral for a multi-million euro loan. From the revenues, only nine percent are available to the insolvency administrator according to the insolvency regulations.

With the rest, Gordon Brothers can make decisions. After decades of gradual decline and now the fourth insolvency, the once-great retailer has no substance left. Only the Galeria house in Freiburg remains in ownership, and even that is under a separate corporation. The company now employs just 12,000 people. At Karstadt and Kaufhof, together they employed over 160,000 people during the celebration. How did this happen?