According to its boss, Miguel Müllenbach, at least one in three stores will have to close in Germany to save the rest of the stores.
Redundancies seem inevitable. Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof employs around 17,000 people in Germany.
The chain, which has 131 stores across the Rhine, has already experienced difficulties in the past and even received aid from the German state. But that was not enough to extricate the sign from financial problems.
A spokesman for Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof confirmed to the German news agency dpa that a procedure for protection against creditors had been initiated.
Inno stores in Belgium are not affected by this protection procedure, as was the case during a similar procedure in 2020, Inno said Monday evening. The sign refers to a communication dating from ten days ago, when the CEO Armin Devender had declared that the developments of the parent company in Germany had no impact on the Belgian subsidiary. In addition, Inno ended its financial year, which ended in September, with a return to profitability.