{
  "id": 14637297,
  "title": "Retail: The changing owners became \"very rich\": How investors have been exploiting Galeria for years",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/15/einzelhandel-die-wechselnden-eigner-wurden-sehr-reich-wie-investoren",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-15T06:45:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Handelsblatt",
    "slug": "handelsblatt",
    "url": "https://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/handel-konsumgueter/galeria-wie-die-marken-karstadt-und-kaufhof-systematisch-zerstoert-wurden/100261482.html"
  },
  "original_language": "de",
  "account": "Galeria, formerly known as Karstadt and Kaufhof, is struggling to recover from insolvency. Despite a strong fourth quarter, it is unlikely to save the company. The business has significant issues, including most of its inventory not being owned by the company due to supplier liens and a $million-dollar loan to Gordon Brothers. As a result, the insolvency administrator will only receive 9% of the revenue from sales. The company now has only 12,000 employees, down from a peak of over 160,000.",
  "summary": "What is now called Galeria was once around 300 department stores with more than 160,000 employees. Then came owners who had a completely different business in mind instead of trading in goods.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Handelsblatt",
        "title": "Retail: Galeria plummets, changing owners got \"very rich\": How investors have been fleecing department stores for years",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/14/einzelhandel-galeria-sturzt-ab-wechselnde-eigner-wurden-sehr-reich",
        "published": "2026-10-14T05:19:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}