What: Galeria is planning to close 70% of its stores and finding buyers for them is not an easy feat.

Why it is important: The German chain has been in trouble for years and benefitted from the German state support twice during the pandemic. The pressure to salvage jobs is high, which makes it an explosive cocktail.

Galeria Kardstadt Kaufhof is planning to sell 90 of its 129 stores in Germany, due to a very difficult financial situation. However, given the fact that the stores in question are in small towns and rather larges, buyers are not interested.

One entrepreneur, the CEO of multi-brand chain Aachener, founded a year ago and which operates now 6 stores, has expressed his interest in a non-specified number of stores.

Retail Detail mentions that Inno, the Belgian department store chain which belongs to Galeria, is not impacted by the issues of the mother company in Germany, and even closed 2022 posting a profit.

German group Galeria has trouble finding buyers for its closed stores