The new executives, hired by Galeria about two years ago after the completion of the first insolvency proceedings, have left the company.
(Photo: Reuters)
Dusseldorf As a first consequence of the opening of the protective shield procedure, Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof has separated from two members of the management. Purchasing Manager Karin Busnel-Knappertsbusch and Dirk Lessing, most recently responsible for IT, logistics and human resources, have left the company.
CEO Miguel Müllenbach thanked the retiring executives, but stressed: “Like every division, the management must also do its part in the urgently needed downsizing.” The management will consist of only three members.
Müllenbach will also be in charge of purchasing in the future. CFO Guido Mager is also responsible for human resources. Former Kaufhof boss Olivier van den Bossche, who only returned to the company six months ago, remains head of sales.
Indirect criticism of the outgoing head of purchasing
Like the entire retail trade, Galeria is faced with permanently changing market conditions and buyer behavior due to the pandemic, energy crisis and war in Ukraine, explained Müllenbach. “Under these market conditions, there can be no simple ‘business as usual’ or a mere ‘fine adjustment’ to make Galeria sustainable for the future,” he said.
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The Galeria boss has streamlined the management of the department store company.
(Photo: picture alliance/dpa)
In “close coordination with the owners”, the company therefore decided to reorganize the management. In this context, Müllenbach also spoke of “deficiencies in conception and implementation” that should be remedied.
Indirectly, he particularly criticized the departed head of purchasing. “There is no alternative to having the right goods in the right place at the right time,” he emphasized. Despite a difficult procurement market, he will work uncompromisingly “so that we can finally get better at it”.
All the “top-class newcomers” are gone again
This means that all of the new executives that Galeria brought in after the completion of the first insolvency proceedings about two years ago have left the company. At the same time, Galeria boss Müllenbach had enthused in a letter to employees at the time that we had succeeded in “winning internationally highly esteemed professionals for our team”.
Andreas Hink was the first to leave the company in January of this year “for personal reasons”, as it was called at the time. He was brought in as digital head by the Swiss retailer Globus, but didn’t even stay until the opening of the new Galeria web shop. In May, Engelbert Thulfaut was replaced by Olivier van den Bossche. Thulfaut, who was previously sales manager at Peek & Cloppenburg in Düsseldorf, took over the real estate division at Galeria in addition to sales after the first insolvency.
After his departure, Thulfaut was allowed to act as a consultant for the start of the new branch concept. But it was precisely this rollout that had made little progress before – which may have contributed to the change.
In a press release in September 2020, Galeria raved about “top-class newcomers” when Lessing, Busnel-Knappertsbusch, Hink and Thulfaut were hired. With the new team comes a new culture. Now everything has been reversed and the old management is on its own.
>> Also read: Which Galeria Kaufhof branches are now threatened with closure
“With this new team of three, we will set the strategic course for the content-related realignment of the company in the coming weeks,” explained Müllenbach. He emphasized that the management has “the full commitment and also the support of our previous owner going forward”.
Galeria is owned by the Signa Holding of the Austrian billionaire René Benko. The general representative Arndt Geiwitz, who was used by Benko with the protective shield procedure, had stated that the owners had “pledged further very high investments”. However, he did not name an exact amount.
More: Which branches of Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof are threatened with closure