Out of the 16 Galeria stores that were affected, only six won't need to shut down.
The number of Galeria department stores set to shut down due to insolvency proceedings and the arrival of a new investor has been lowered to ten. The Essen-based company announced on Friday that 82 out of the 92 outlets can continue to remain operational. Initially, 16 outlets were in danger of closing their doors.
"I'm pleased that we managed to find financially sustainable solutions for six extra stores after receiving late offers from landlords," said Galeria's insolvency administrator, Stefan Denkhaus. "Unfortunately, this isn't the case for the other locations that are to be shut down."
The outlets that will continue to function are located in Berlin-Spandau, Cologne on Breite Straße, Mainz, Mannheim, Oldenburg, and Würzburg. The stores in Augsburg, Berlin-Ringcenter, Berlin-Tempelhof, Chemnitz, Essen, Leonberg, Potsdam, Regensburg (Neupfarrplatz), Trier (Fleischstraße), and Wesel will be forced to close shop.
The insolvency plan, accepted by creditors in late May, had suggested a reduction of around 1,400 jobs, with 450 of them being based in the Essen headquarters, which will eventually relocate to Düsseldorf. With the closure of these additional six outlets, Galeria anticipates saving close to 500 additional jobs. The company currently has a workforce of 12,800 people.
Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof filed for bankruptcy for the third time in a short span of time in January. The department store chain encountered issues due to the insolvency of its parent company, Signa, based in Austria. In April, it was revealed that a consortium comprising the US investment company NRDC Equity Partners and Bernd Beetz' investment firm, BB Kapital SA would take over Galeria. The insolvency proceedings are due to be concluded by the end of July.
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The six Galeria stores that won't need to shut down are located in Berlin-Spandau, Cologne on Breite Straße, Mainz, Mannheim, Oldenburg, and Würzburg. Despite the closure of these additional six outlets, Galeria still has a substantial workforce of approximately 12,300 people.
