Germany’s last major department store chain, Galeria, will not be broken up. The creditors’ meeting in Essen approved the restructuring plan for the group with a large majority on Monday, as announced.
Galeria representative Arndt Geiwitz explained that the plan gave “Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof the best chance of getting back on the road to success”. If the plan was rejected by the creditors – including suppliers and landlords – Galeria would have been threatened with the closure of business operations.
The restructuring plan envisages further deep cuts for the department store group, which has been in crisis for years and which belongs to the billionaire Signa Holding of the Austrian investor René Benko. Of the currently 129 department stores, 47 branches are to close their doors, thousands of jobs will be lost.