The agreement of the department stores of Karstadt threatens 30 department stores

The rivals Kaufhof and Karstadt have been fighting for a merger for years, now things are getting serious: the owner of the Canadian Kaufhof Hudson & # 39; s Bay Company (HBC) and the owner of Karstadt Signa have signed an agreement, according to industrial sources detailed intent letter. This means that Kaufhof, Karstadt and Karstadt Sport merge into a joint venture. Kaufhof is to bring 96 department stores, Karstadt 82. Signa takes 51% of the planned joint venture. Operational management is to take over Karstadt, currently more successful than the red writing Kaufhof. Nothing is sealed, currently the experts are checking the books of each other. The companies did not want to comment on the plans.

Signa and his owner Rene Benko have been trying for centuries to swallow the Kaufhof. Until now, the owners of Kaufhof had resisted. But now, Canadians themselves are so under financial pressure that they are accepting the merger. Online commerce is increasing department stores, redemption battles and excessive rents in margins. In the 1970s, Kaufhof and Karstadt together accounted for 15% of German retail sales. Today it is even more than one percent.

Employees and customers must adapt to drastic reductions in the medium term. In trading circles, we are talking about "less than 15 branches", which are waiting for closing. On the other hand, trade expert Gerrit Heinemann expects that many more houses will be closed. Since the merger does not lead to new sales, the new Warenhaus AG should reduce its costs to be profitable.

"At the sites where Karstadt and Kaufhof are located, department stores are closed," says Heinemann. One-third of the houses are such double locations. One-sixth of the department stores (about 30) were threatened with closure. There are double pitches in Düsseldorf, Mönchengladbach, Cologne and Bonn.

At the same time, employees must prepare for clear-cutting. "If the new group of department stores recovers the loss of Kaufhof and wants to achieve a three percent yield, it must save 250 million euros." That means that up to 6,000 jobs are at risk, Heinemann calculates. Especially colleagues from the center of Cologne (Kaufhof) and food (Karstadt) have to fear.According to the bargaining circles, the administration, the computer logistics and the purchase of the two department store chains should be The location of the new headquarters is still unknown.

NRW Minister of Economic Affairs, Andreas Pinkwart (FDP), calls on companies to consider downtown concerns: "The state government attaches great importance to bustling city centers. Companies that can and want to invest in the modernization of department stores are in demand, "said our editors, and they should have some idea of ​​how to make soil trading attractive during the digitization period." I am confident that the two companies will take into account the concerns of the sites and the employees in their decisions. "

The Verdi union demands a quick clarity from the owners." Once this clarifies their case, we will start discussions to find rules that protect the interests of employees of both companies, "said Bernhard Franke, who leads the negotiations for a collective agreement rehabilitated For Verdi, Kaufhof wants to withdraw from the collective agreement. Karstadt left some time ago and offers worse conditions.