The customer cannot decide, she is standing in front of a shelf full of lunch boxes.

There is a large selection: light blue, dark red, beige, turquoise - and all of that in six different sizes.

She takes one of the baby blue cans in one hand and a dark red one in the other.

Stefanie Diemand

Editor in business.

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The management team of Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof (GKK) gathers just one floor above. Because while customers go shopping in the department store like on any other day in the Frankfurt branch at the Hauptwache S-Bahn station, it is a very special day for Miguel Müllenbach, head of the company, and his employees: The department store chain opened its on Wednesday first “premium branch”, the so-called “Weltstadthaus”. It is part of the new “Galeria 2.0” concept with which the company intends to reposition itself. In return, the group is finally saying goodbye to the old names and logos: In the future, all branches will only be called “Galeria”, Karstadt and Kaufhof are history. This standardization was already an issue at the merger in 2019, two years later the time has come.

But more than just a name is to change at Galeria: In the future there will be three different types of department stores, each with a pilot branch has now been opened. In addition to Frankfurt, branches in Kassel and Kleve will also show how the company intends to attract customers to the shops in the future. In addition to the Weltstadthaus, there should be “local magnets” and “local forums”, Galeria advertises. These differ primarily in the product range strategy, but also in size and price range. What they all have in common is that Galeria wants to use less retail space, but its range should become more modern and of higher quality. "Today we are experiencing a milestone in our realignment," says Müllenbach. Galeria should move forward again, with sales and growth - and the number of employees.2500 new employees have been hired since February.

600 million euros

The fact that Galeria is reinventing itself is nothing new, says Martin Fassnacht, who heads the chair for strategy and marketing at the WHU business school.

The department store chain has been struggling with a loss of importance for many years.

There is not much left of the former temples of consumption in the inner cities: The company only filed for bankruptcy last year, around 40 branches had to close, and thousands of employees were laid off.

After completing the procedure, the department store received a government loan of 460 million euros.

The bad news should now be a thing of the past, but the head of the last large department store chain in Germany is taking a total of 600 million euros in hand.

"It sounds like a lot at first," says Fassnacht, but actually that is far too little.

This applies to the branches as well as the online shop, in which Müllenbach plans to invest around 200 million euros.

The online strategy includes an app that is supposed to connect the branch and the online shop.

The hairdresser appointment or locksmith service, which is available in the branch, can be booked via the app.

That should also increase the online share.

That also seems necessary: ​​According to the insolvency plan, GKK only had an online share of sales of 4.3 percent last year.

The realignment comes late

The appointment in Frankfurt - perhaps because of this - is primarily about one thing: the stationary branches. Of the remaining 131 branches, up to 60 houses are to be completely rebuilt, the rest partially, in six years. "We have to think differently because our houses are different," says Müllenbach about the renovation. The branches already differ in size, but also in the customer groups who shop there.

The cosmopolitan houses should offer more premium, both in the range and in the design of the house. So it is not surprising that the first pilot branch was opened on Frankfurter Zeil. In the future, customers should find brands such as Gucci Beauty, Hugo Boss or Lambert here. A restaurant on the top floor was created with star chef Steffen Henssler; customers can eat and drink on the roof terrace while looking out over the city center in Frankfurt. On another floor there are products tailored to foreign tourists, such as Christmas pyramids made of wood. There should be between ten and fifteen such branches in the next 6 years.

Shops in smaller cities in particular count as “regional magnets”. This is not about luxury, but about being closer to the customer: In the pilot branch in Kassel, for example, there will be a branch office of the city administration in the future, where you can have your police clearance certificate printed out. More than 50 branches are to be converted in this way. The pilot branch in Kleve is exemplary as a "local forum", it should be a model for the remaining, mostly smaller Galeria houses. The focus here is primarily on the local range.

What sounds nice is not promising for trade expert Fassnacht.

"It all sounds good, but the concept comes far too late." Galeria should have started with that ten years ago, when the city centers had not yet lost their importance and companies like Amazon had even smaller market shares.

Today the competition - offline as well as online - is far too great.

"Galeria won't be of this size in ten years," says Fassnacht.

Company boss Müllenbach, on the other hand, is combative: “We want to be the networked heart of the city center,” he says.

The customers should come - and they will.

At the end, the customer in front of the shelf with the butter dishes goes to the checkout with the light blue tin.

Here in Frankfurt, Müllenbach seems to be right today.