Belgian department store chain Inno is continuing its strategic repositioning as planned, CEO Armin Devender confirms. However, a (rumoured) sale by parent company Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof is not yet concrete.
No concrete talks
A lot of questions recently arose about the future of department store chain Inno, the Belgian subsidiary of Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof with sixteen stores, as the German parent company is undergoing a major restructuring on its home market following a protection procedure. According to German financial media, the ailing group is considering a sale of its Belgian subsidiary, aiming to raise tens of millions of euros.
Until now, the German company did not want to respond to the rumours, but now a brief comment was issued. “In this situation, Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof has to consider all conceivable scenarios, including the sale of its Inno shares. However, no concrete sales talks are taking place at the moment”, restructuring expert Arndt Geiwitz, who is supervising Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, says.
Tide turned
Unlike its parent company, Inno has returned to the path of profit, so Devender denies that Inno too has restructuring measures hanging over its head. “At Inno, we are continuing to implement the strategic repositioning as planned. Even if the shareholder structure were to actually change, this will not bring about any changes for our employees, customers, shops and partners”, he pointed out.
“Going forward, we will position our department stores even more in the premium segment. Adjustments in this direction will already be visible in the stores in Brussels’ Rue Neuve and Avenue Louise this summer.” In October 2022, the CEO announced that he had successfully turned the tide at the department store chain: Inno realised a positive EBITDA of over ten million euros last financial year, after two loss-making years.
