Craft Germany, part of the Swedish New Wave Group, is further expanding its presence in German retail through a cooperation with Galeria: With a recently opened 80sqm space at Galeria Rosenheim, the brand presents its entire product portfolio from the categories running (footwear and apparel), bike, training and cross-country skiing. The opening of the sales space was accompanied by a social run: Participants could test the footwear range on a 7-km run with the German Craft Elite Run Team athlete Anian Rottmüller. The format will be continued regularly as a series of events.
Rosenheim is already the third Galeria location to stock the Craft range. Cooperation is an essential first step for Craft Germany to expand the availability of the entire range in German retail. To date, the brand has mainly been available in physical stores with its textile products and also relied heavily on online sales. In the future, the company plans to increase the presentation of its footwear range, particularly at brick-and-mortar outlets. Additional partnerships are already in the making, the company said.
“The cooperation with Galeria is a real success for us,” commented Markus Müller, Country Manager Craft Germany. “It allows us to present our brand holistically in a prime inner-city location and bring it closer to our target group.” A successful concept that is to be expanded. After Nuremberg, Saarbrücken, and now Rosenheim, Müller plans to launch additional spaces in the Galeria department stores in Leipzig and Münster for the 2024 fall/winter collection. Initial talks about similar concepts are also underway with other sports retailers in Germany, Müller said.
Galeria filed for insolvency again at the beginning of 2024 – for the third time in just a few years. This time, it followed the demise of the parent company, Signa. On April 1, 2024, insolvency proceedings were once again opened over the assets of Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof GmbH. The German government has injected several hundred million euros into the ailing department store chain in recent years. US investor NRDC Equity Partners was granted the contract to operate 92 chain locations in April and, in May, pledged €100 million and wants to restructure the company. NRDC also shortened the name of the group to Galeria.
