Consumer (department store)

logo

The central trading company "Konsument" (ZU Konsument) was a chain of department stores and was subordinate to the Association of Consumer Cooperatives of the GDR . After Centrum , it was the second largest chain of department stores in the country.

history

ZU Konsument was founded with effect from January 1, 1965 by the Association of German Consumer Cooperatives (VDK) . The department store chain was formed from larger department stores that were previously operated as consumer goods , as the regional consumer cooperatives wanted to concentrate more on the core area, the basic supply of food. A total of eleven department stores were subordinate to the new chain by 1966, but actually only four in the corporate design of the new company. The flagship of the chain was the department store at Brühl in Leipzig , which was rebuilt in 1966 and expanded from 8,000 to 11,500 m² of sales area, popularly known as the “ tin can ” , which was owned by the Leipzig consumer cooperative from 1947 to 1964 . Consumers purchased 83 percent of their goods directly from manufacturers. From 1972 the chain introduced rooting tables based on the western model. In 1988 the chain operated 13 department stores and was just as large as its counterpart Centrum der Handelsorganisation (HO).

After 1990 the Association of Consumer Cooperatives of the GDR (VdK) and Horten AG founded the joint venture "Horten-Konsument", both shareholders each had 50 percent of the shares. The department stores were continued by the new Horten-Konsument Warenhaus GmbH . After the takeover of Horten by Kaufhof in 1994, VdK eG sold the 50 percent stake to Kaufhof. The decisive factors were economic reasons, for example the shareholder VdK eG had no influence on purchasing, but contributed to the economic (loss) result. With the merger of the parent company with Kaufhof AG, many buildings changed names again. Not all department stores could be established full ownership by the partner VdK eG, who was and remained the owner of the building. Wherever it succeeded, the department stores were also sold to Kaufhof Warenhaus AG (in addition to the actual stake or shareholding). For example in Cottbus , Plauen and Gera . This did not succeed in Leipzig. Here, the location was jointly sold to Hertie / Karstadt by the VdK eG as the building owner and by a Jewish community of heirs as the owner of the land. The branch in Leipzig later became a provisional facility of Karstadt Warenhaus AG , which used the building until October 2006. Other locations, such as Cottbus, are still operated by the Kaufhof today. The department store on Berlin's Anton-Saefkow-Platz was owned by Zentralkonsum eG (building owner) until 2009 and leased to Kaufhof AG. After they moved out, it was sold to a group of investors in 2009 together with the federal government and the state of Berlin (property owner).

Locations

The consumer department store at Brühl (" Blechbüchse ") in Leipzig (1968)

Consumer department store in Cottbus, design: Klaus Frauendorf , 1966–1968

• Berlin , Anton-Saefkow-Platz (opened in 1985, renamed: 1991 to Horten, 1996 to Kaufhof, move to the Ring Center)
• Cottbus (opened in 1968, in 1991 to Horten, 1996 to Kaufhof)
• Dessau , Franzstrasse (in 1991 zu Horten, closed in 1995, demolished in 2007, rebuilt in 2007–2009 by Konsument Dessau GmbH as the "Dessau Center" with an investment volume of € 36 million)
• Dresden - Löbtau , Kesselsdorfer Strasse
• Frankfurt (Oder) , Karl-Marx-Strasse 40 (in 1991 to Horten, demolished in 2006, followed by a new construction of a smaller shopping center "Konsument" in the same area, now Heilbronner Str. 30, by the Quartier "Konsument" Frankfurt (Oder) GmbH) . The main tenant has been Kaufland-Warenhandelsgesellschaft mbH since its construction )
• Gera
• Gotha (in 1991 at Horten, closed in 1995, fashion discount since 1999)
• Halle (Saale) : 3 houses in the area around the market square: in 1991 to Horten, closed in 1994/95; Leipziger Str .: today “New Yorker”, Grosse Ulrichstrasse (formerly Karstadt): demolished and replaced by a shopping arcade, small forges: conversion into an office and commercial building
• Jena (completed by Horten in 1991, closed in 1994)
• Leipzig : Warenhaus am Brühl ( “Blechbüchse” ; demolished in 2010, the original aluminum facade was integrated into the Höfe am Brühl shopping center ); a house in Lindenauer Josephstraße (today partly empty)
• Plauen (in 1991 to Horten, closed in 1995)
• Potsdam (in 1991 to Horten, closed after fire in 1996, then vacant, Karstadt since 2005)
• Stralsund (in 1991 to Horten, closed in 1994)
• Zwickau (in 1991 to Horten, closed in 1999)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Consumer cooperatives in the GDR, Berlin 1970, publisher VdK of the GDR and annual statistical report VdK of the GDR 1988
2. ^ Annual report VdK eG, 1991, Witho Holland "The consumer cooperatives in the GDR" (epilogue)
3. ↑ Annual accounts of the Association of Consumer Cooperatives-VdK eG 1995
4. ↑ Annual financial statements VdK eG 1991–1995
5. ↑ Purchase contract, Archiv Zentralkonsum eG
6. ↑ Zentralkonsum eG: "Konsument" Dessau GmbH
7. ↑ Construction plan of the new shopping center "Konsument" Frankfurt (Oder), accessed on June 20, 2014 [1]  ( 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.  

Web links

Commons : consumer warehouse  - collection of images, videos and audio files

literature

• Andreas Ludwig: Consumption: Consumer cooperatives in the GDR. (Ed. By the Documentation Center “Everyday Culture of the GDR”), Böhlau, Cologne 2006, ISBN 3-412-09406-4 , p. 70 ff.