End of Mein Real chain: Verdi criticizes owners
The trade union Verdi has criticized the owner SCP following the announcement of the closure of 45 stores of the hypermarket chain Mein Real. "The investor SCP is shirking its responsibility and taxpayers are footing the bill by paying insolvency money," said Verdi's state secretary for retail in North Rhine-Westphalia, Heino Georg Kaßler, to the German Press Agency on Tuesday. Mein Real is still in insolvency under self-administration. Even long-term employees are only entitled to a maximum of two and a half months' pay due to a capped severance payment in accordance with the insolvency regulations. Around 3,500 people are affected by the closure of the 45 stores and the head office.
Real GmbH announced on Monday that it intended to sell a total of 18 of its 63 stores to Rewe, Kaufland and Edeka. The remaining 45 stores are to be closed by March 31, 2024, as "despite intensive efforts, no buyer" has yet been found for these locations. Business operations in the stores affected by the closure are to continue as normal until the end of March 2024.
At the end of September, the company stated that the number of employees in the stores and at the head office in Mönchengladbach was over 5,000. With the transfer of the 18 stores, the company was able to provide around 1,500 employees with long-term future prospects, the company announced on Monday. At the end of September, Real had still stated the number of stores at 62 because a currently closed store in Braunschweig was not counted at the time.
"SCP does not see itself as a strategic retail company, but is purely a liquidator," continued Kaßler. This was already the case after the purchase of Real from Metro. At that time, SCP's interest was primarily in the real estate.
SCP had acquired the Real chain with 276 stores from the Metro retail group in 2020 in order to break it up and sell it on. Kaufland, Edeka, Globus and Rewe secured a large number of the most attractive stores. Following an interim sale, the company has been owned by SCP again since May.
The closure of 45 Mein Real stores amidst insolvency has sparked criticism from Verdi, who accused the owner SCP of shirking responsibility and making taxpayers pay for insolvency funds. Despite selling 18 stores to Rewe, Kaufland, and Edeka, SCP views Mein Real as a liquidation project rather than a strategic retail company.
Source: www.dpa.com
