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Never before has the merger of companies been as tangible as it is now. He is late. Because, without cuts, department stores are threatened with death.
Before animals die, life often comes back to them. They shuddered one last time, acting almost as if they were repairing themselves. Even in the business world, this phenomenon has been seen time and again in the past – at the Holzmann construction company, for example, which, despite its spectacular rescue, only broke apart two years later . Or mail order company Quelle, who received a state emergency loan after a long struggle, but ultimately could not avoid bankruptcy.
The idea can not be completely shaken that even the possible merger of department stores Kaufhof and Karstadt is only one last rally could be. Too big were the losses of the past years, too close the two companies were the abyss. And yet, companies do not have a choice in the end. They can only survive when they join forces. And then reinvent together the department store.
Kaufhof recently lost more than 100 million euros
In fact, this step is late. Because the world of department stores is no longer safe. For years, many houses languish there. Kaufhof has lost more than 100 million euros. Although Karstadt is back, the group even wants to open new agencies – the first for more than 30 years. But even that does not deceive the fact that sales have decreased by almost 75% since the beginning of the millennium. It's catastrophic, not only for employees, but also for downtowns. Because department stores were once the heart of pedestrian areas. If some people close, they often suffer from others as well.
But how did that happen? The most plausible answer is probably the following: While department stores have not touched their concept for years, the world has quickly developed in front of the shop windows. At a time when people had little and wanted everything, the all-under-a-roof concept worked well. In the first decades after the Second World War, department stores were places where customers could seize the economic miracle. Few of this fascination remains. Today, Kaufhof or Karstadt are for many people just oversized mom and pop shops.
And even the customer himself has changed dramatically through online commerce. From vendors like Amazon or Zalando, he has learned to be as comfortable as possible. So why should he stop at the checkout and wait to be served?
Karstadt's boss, Fanderl, took the company out of the crisis
Those who want to reinvent the department store need to be aware of this – and offer them to customers something that they do not can not find on the Internet. These can be adventures, long shopping nights, fashion shows, a cozy coffee – or something completely different. There is no universally valid recipe in the trade. Only, it's clear: with the classic department stores, merchants do not attract enough people to their stores. Customers have been buying shoes, cosmetics or pans for a long time.
Karstadt and Kaufhof will need a lot of money to drive real change. Money that companies do not necessarily have. In the end, therefore, a new group of department stores will not avoid hard cuts. Karstadt boss Stephan Fanderl has demonstrated in recent years how a company can emerge from the crisis.
Such austerity is undoubtedly painful, but the alternative would be all the stronger: if the department keeps its course Do not change them, threatening them with rapid death after the last education.
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