This was announced by insolvency administrator Stefan Denkhaus on Saturday. Berlin (Ringcenter, Spandau, Tempelhof), North Rhine-Westphalia (Essen, Köln Breite Straße, Wesel) and Bavaria (Augsburg, Regensburg Neupfarrplatz, Würzburg) are particularly badly affected by closures, with three stores each. In addition, these department stores are supposed to close: Chemnitz, Leonberg, Mainz, Mannheim, Oldenburg, Potsdam, Trier Fleischstrasse.
1,400 employees lose their jobs
Of the approximately 12,800 people the company employs, 11,400 should keep their jobs. 1,400 will have to go. According to Galeria, a reconciliation of interests and a social plan were concluded with the general works council on Friday. “We will do everything we can to lead our business into a successful future. We see good conditions for this, not least due to our sales development in the current financial year,” said Galeria boss Olivier Van den Bossche. The company’s headquarters are to move from Essen to the Düsseldorf Shadowstrasse branch.
Bankruptcy and new owner
The department store group filed for bankruptcy at the beginning of January. It is the third bankruptcy within three and a half years. At the time, Van den Bossche cited, among other things, the insolvencies of the Signa Group of the previous owner René Benko as the reason for the difficult situation. It has been known since the beginning of April that a consortium made up of the US investment company NRDC and entrepreneur Bernd Beetz’s company BB Kapital SA wants to take over the department store chain.
However, the agreement concluded between investors and Galeria will only come into effect if the creditors agree. Insolvency administrator Denkhaus wants to present the insolvency plan for the change of ownership by the end of April. The plan will not be legally binding until the creditors’ meeting approves it on May 28 and it is then reconfirmed by the court. Denkhaus wants to hand over the company to the new owners by the end of July.
