Galeria exit insolvency, looks forward “with confidence”

Galeria has survived its insolvency proceedings: the German department store chain is relaunching in a a slimmed-down version under new owners, including the investor behind Hudson’s Bay.

“New, confident Galeria”

As the seven months of court protection are coming to an end, of Thursday, Galeria can make its own way again. Insolvency administrator Stefan Denkhaus is satisfied with the result: the German department store chain found new owners and finally managed to sell Belgian subsidiary Inno.

The insolvency proceedings were also necessary to cut costs, Denkhaus says, but the new shareholders still pledge to keep 83 department stores open and 12,000 employees on board. The headquarters will move from Essen to Düsseldorf next year, though. He also stated Galeria now has a good economic position and millions in available cash.

Bernd Beetz wants to work on a “new, confident Galeria” that should even become a “frequency generator” for the surrounding trade, the new co-owner says in a press release. Belgian CEO Olivier Van den Bossche will stay on board and focus on Galeria’s core competency as a department store. There will be more (local) collaborations and stores will be modernised.