Kaufhalle AG
| Kaufhalle AG
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| legal form | Corporation |
| founding | 1925 |
| resolution | 2000 (sale of the operative business) 2007 (closure of the last branches) Since then a pure real estate company |
| Seat | Cologne , Germany |
| management | Hans Kühn (around 1998) |
| Number of employees | 5000 |
| sales | 2.3 billion DM |
| Branch | retail trade |
The department store AG was one of the Kaufhof established low-price department store group. The company has been based in Cologne since the beginning . In September 2000, the operational business of the department stores run as KAUFHALLE , KAUFCENTER and M. multistore was sold to the Italian textile retailer Oviesse , the name Kaufhalle / Multistore was retained in several branches until 2005. Currently (as of 2020) Kaufhalle AG is a pure real estate company.
history
.jpg)
Early years
The company was founded in 1925 as Ehape Einheitpreis-Handelsgesellschaft mbH by Leonhard Tietz AG . In 1927 the name was changed to an AG . In 1937 the name was changed to Rheinische Kaufhalle AG .
Often the branches were located in the immediate vicinity of the parent company, but sometimes the Kaufhalle branches were also former Kaufhof branches that were no longer big enough for the Kaufhof . Externally, the connection between Kaufhof and Kaufhalle could also be recognized by the lettering, as it was the same font. The color of the logo of the department store was red, which in the color spectrum represents the contrasting color to green, which was then as now the color of the department store.
Main competitors
- Woolworth : Woolworth had been active in the German market since the 1920s. After 1990, Woolworth was the only major competitor in the German market.
- Bilka : Bilka was Hertie's low-price division .
- Kepa : Kepa was Karstadt's low-price division until 1980.
- DeFaKa : DeFaKa (German family department store) was the low-price division of Horten AG .
1990s
After taking over the Bilka stores, Kaufhalle AG operated more than 110 branches and was thus represented in almost all regions of Germany. However, insufficient investment had been made in the stores for many years, and so the reputation fell and the deficit grew. The 1994 annual result for the Kaufhalle was minus 4.2 million marks, in the new federal states alone a minus of 15 million marks was achieved. The Metro AG wanted to get rid of the unprofitable chain, some stores were consumed within the Group to better uses and " Media Markt " is used to supplement the Kaufhof department store or a "sports arena".
In the end, 99 branches, two logistics centers and the head office in Cologne remained, which Metro AG transferred to "Divaco". In this company, the Metro collected all companies that no longer belong to the core area. The remaining branches were in very different attractive locations and the new owner found it difficult to get rid of the chain, and for a long time they were looking for an interested party. Meanwhile, the branch network was modernized and three sales brands were run at the same time.
The three sales brands since the 1990s
- As a department store, mostly older branches and branches in B or even C locations remained.
- Purchase center . This second brand appeared in the 1980s, shopping centers were initially somewhat larger department stores. They looked a little better because they were newer. But the logo made it clear at first glance where the origin was. After the fall of the Wall, a number of branches in the new federal states were also called “Kaufcenter”, because the term “ Kaufhalle ” was used differently there from earlier, namely to mean a supermarket .
- (M.) multistore . The “multistore” concept was introduced in the 1990s. The new basic color was now blue. The logo was changed twice within a few years. The first branches just had a lettering in capital letters, with the first change the lettering was written in lower case letters and the prefix "M." was added in a square, whereby there was no meaning for the additional M. In version 2.2, the point behind the M has been moved into the frame of the square. With the multi-store branch, an attempt was made to get rid of the antiquated, sometimes negative image of the name “Kaufhalle” and to open up new customer groups with a new name and renovated department store areas.
Sale, return and closure
In 2000, Divaco found a company that wanted to take over the department store as a whole. The largest Italian textile retailer "Gruppo Coin" had plans to open up markets outside of its home country. The Oviesse sales brand was selected for this. In September 2000, the operational business with 5000 employees, two logistics centers, a head office and 99 branches were transferred from Kaufhalle AG to the German Oviesse. Gruppo Coin did not have to pay a price, on the contrary, it received 64 million euros from Divaco. Otherwise, Divaco would have had to continue to put this money into the loss-making chain. The first to be converted into Oviesse was the Ulm branch.
In 2002 Oviesse was still confident despite the losses of the German subsidiary and described Germany as the core market for the Coin group . The Handelsblatt spoke of the “comeback of the department store, which was declared dead”. The loss was 45 million euros on a turnover of 189 million euros. According to Germany boss Dieter von Aspern, it was planned to keep 50 stores and close the rest. In autumn 2003, however, 71 department stores were closed, which at that time employed 1,600 people. Only 17 remained in operation. In 2004 Woolworth took over five branches (Cologne, Nuremberg, Passau, Remscheid and Solingen). It was estimated that Oviesse paid EUR 50 million for the return / abandonment of the branches to Kaufhalle AG .
Years after Oviesse had given up operational business, branches with the old names still appeared at some locations. There was also a department store in Munich and an M. multistore in downtown Stuttgart. Some branches have also been reactivated as multi-stores. All branches were closed until 2007.
Kaufhalle AG as a real estate company after September 2000
After the operational business was given up, Kaufhalle AG became a pure real estate company. She rented the branches to Oviesse, with many branches still being called "Kaufhalle". When Oviesse decided to give up the German market, Kaufhalle AG received a transfer fee of 50 million euros for the resulting rental loss. Since Oviesse moved out of all branches, Kaufhalle AG has been trying to re-rent its properties, larger tenants with a number of rented branches in recent years have been “cheap department stores” and Karstadt Quelle AG with remaining stock markets for unsold mail-order goods. 38 department store properties were sold to Dawnay Day in 2007 ; this British company also operated Hertie department stores in Germany .
Kaufhalle AG has been indirectly owned by WestLB (49.5%), Metro AG (49%) and Provinzial Rheinland AG (1.5%) since 2003 .
The fulfillment of pension and pension obligations towards former Kaufhalle employees was transferred to Providus GmbH in Langenburg in 2010, which is handled by former Metro board member Siegfried Kaske .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b WELT-online: "Dramatic" minus in the east for Kaufhalle , July 6, 1996
- ↑ Capital, Ed. 35/1996
- ↑ Handelsblatt.com: Italian retail chain Coin takes over German department store , September 14, 2000
- ↑ Handelsblatt.com: Comeback for the Kaufhalle , January 30, 2003
- ↑ a b Netzeitung.de: Textile retailer closes German Oviesse stores ( Memento from February 11, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ), October 30, 2003
- ↑ stern.de: Comeback for the Kaufhalle , January 30, 2003
- ^ Wallstreet-online.de: Oviesse closes 71 department stores with 1,600 employees , October 29, 2003
- ↑ FashionUnited.de: Woolworth takes over Oviesse branches ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , April 27, 2004
- ^ Pforzheimer-Zeitung.de: No new tenant for the former department store in sight , February 11, 2009
