By order of a German district court, the insolvency proceedings of the Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof (GKK) department store group will come to an end at the close of May 31. This makes legally binding the insolvency plan for the department store chain, which was approved by the creditors’ meeting of the insolvent department store group in late March and calls for the closure of around one-third of the 129 remaining department stores. The remaining outlets are to be converted within three years.
In the future, the group intends to focus increasingly on the sale of fashion items, optimize its own brands and reduce the general product range. The stores are also to be managed on a more decentralized basis; with the respective product ranges to be adapted more closely to local conditions. To implement the insolvency plan, the Austrian Signa Group, GKK’s owner, will provide up to €200 million. The creditors are also waiving a large part of the money still owed to them by the department store group – an estimated amount of around €1.3 billion.
