In Germany, Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof director fears the impact of continued lockdowns

Miguel Müllenbach, head of Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof group, has planned a major price reduction campaign in the fashion sector for when lockdown and related restrictions are eased.

“The business sector is under pressure at the moment, especially textile retailers,” Miguel Müllenbach told German publication Bild. Warehouses are overflowing, he said. “In the clothing sector, we are going to see unprecedented price reduction campaigns.”
 
The last major department store chain in Germany may require additional government aid in order to survive. “I cannot rule out this possibility,” said Müllenbach. “If lockdown continues, we will need additional funds.” 

Müllenbach also said that, without the help of the group’s owner Signa, “there would have been no more department stores since a long time ago and our 20,000 jobs would have disappeared.” At the start of the year, Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof received a loan totalling €460 million ($556 million) from the Economic Stabilisation Fund set up by the German government. 
 
Müllenbach did not specify how much aid the Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof chain may need. It all depends on the evolution of the situation over the following few weeks. When asked to confirm that his company spends around €100 million each month, Müllenbach did not confirm or deny the figure and said, “I don’t want to comment on this, but the general magnitude is correct.”