It’s a formality – and yet it means fear for many employees: the bankruptcy proceedings of the department store chain Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof have been opened. Now creditors can file their claims.
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The Essen Local Court has ordered self-administered bankruptcy proceedings for the Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof department store chain and eight affiliated companies. In addition to the department store chain itself, the subsidiaries Karstadt Sports, Galeria Logistik, Sportarena, Le Buffet, Dinea Gastronomie Karstadt Feinkost, Atrys I and Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th Europe were also informed on Wednesday.
The self-administration insolvency procedure follows on from the previous protective shield procedure. On Wednesday, Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof and Karstadt Sports submitted to the court the bankruptcy plans they had worked out in the past few months with the details of the restructuring concept.
The court now has to examine whether the plans meet the legal requirements. Insolvency expert Frank Kebekus was appointed as the administrator, who had also supervised the companies in the protective shield procedure.
62 branches have to close
Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof suffered a serious crisis due to the pandemic closure of all branches and had to seek rescue in a protective shield procedure in early April. According to the recovery plans announced so far, 62 of the 172 department stores and 20 of the 30 branches of the subsidiary Karstadt Sports are to be closed. In addition, 26 out of 50 Karstadt delicatessen stores are said to close.
With the opening of insolvency proceedings, creditors can now file their claims against Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof with the administrator. A first meeting of creditors could take place in early September.
