Real facing the end - last supermarkets to close in 2024
The struggling supermarket chain Real is on the brink of collapse. The company is selling several stores to competitors and plans to close the last stores by the end of March 2024. As Real announced in Mönchengladbach on Monday, 14 stores are to be transferred to competitor Rewe, three stores to Kaufland and one store to Edeka. The Federal Cartel Office still has to approve some of the plans. The remaining 45 stores will be closed by March 31, 2024, as "despite intensive efforts, no buyer" has yet been found for these locations.
The hypermarket chain Mein Real filed for insolvency proceedings under self-administration in September. At the time, more than 5,000 employees in 62 stores and the head office in Mönchengladbach were affected. The insolvency proceedings under self-administration were intended to enable business operations to be maintained and negotiations to be held with competitors regarding the possible takeover of locations.
The chain is owned by financial investor SCP. It had initially sold the company in June 2022, but reacquired it in May 2023 due to a "critical economic situation". SCP had acquired the Real chain with its then 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. The company with the remaining 62 locations then went to the Tischendorf family office in summer 2022, before being reacquired by SCP in May.
Bojan Luncer, CEO of real GmbH, said that the transfer of 18 "mein real stores" had secured long-term prospects for around 1,500 employees. "Despite intensive efforts, however, the closure of stores is unavoidable in view of the difficult situation at real GmbH." Talks would be held with the works council with the aim of concluding a reconciliation of interests and a social plan.
The retail trade sector is significantly impacted by Real's impending store closures, with 45 stores set to shut down by March 2024. Competitors like Rewe and Kaufland are benefiting from Real's struggles, acquiring several stores in the process.
Source: www.dpa.com
