So now only Galeria.

In Frankfurt an der Hauptwache, the merged department store chain Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof opened a new chapter on Wednesday and presented the first store whose furnishings and range follow the new premium concept.

It is not the first renovation of this department store, which, always in a prime location, rose to become the company's so-called cosmopolitan building in 2008 with a new facade and roof terrace.

Now René Benko, owner of the department store chain, is adding a lot more.

The Galeria, as all houses are now only to be called, has been expanded by a third of the sales area and has been luxuriously converted into a department store that does not even come close to the very top of KaDeWe, Oberpollinger and Alsterhaus.

Nevertheless, with the champagne bar, fashion brands such as Boss and Polo Ralph Lauren and Versace in the porcelain department, it is in a league that, at least in major Hessian cities, has not yet had any other department store as a member.

A well thought-out, coherent concept

First insights show: The new Galeria makes you want to go into town again. The elegant, uniform shopfitting, the opening of the shop window front and facade towards the Zeil, a restaurant on the roof that can now be used around the clock thanks to separate access, more seating, and last but not least, new offers such as fresh flowers: all that speaks for a well thought-out, coherent concept. As before, it has above all well-heeled, international tourists as its target group in mind. And is based on the optimistic assumption that tourists, like other customers, will return to Corona in the strength that they revived the city before the pandemic. Whether this will happen remains to be seen in the next year at the earliest.

In any case, the investment is a commitment to brick-and-mortar retail and in particular to downtown Frankfurt, which can use such signals more than ever.

On the Zeil in the direction of Konstablerwache, a row of houses is now almost completely empty.

Seen in this way, Frankfurt can be a little proud of being a pilot location for Galeria.

And the fact that the Hauptwache is now also shining as an address in capital letters on the facade, the new city government can understand as a hint.

The company has done its homework, now it is the turn of politicians: the city center has to be clean and the Hauptwache has to be more beautiful.