The Morning Warning List · 26 October 2026
Galeria
On 2 October 2026 Galeria, the German department-store chain, filed for insolvency for the fourth time in six years. That same day its managers wrote to staff that they were convinced Galeria would have a successful future. So why does a store that keeps being rescued keep needing a rescue?
Everything under one roof, in German city centres.
Galeria runs department stores in German city centres. Its roots go back to 14 May 1881, when Rudolph Karstadt opened a cloth shop in Wismar. Today it has 83 stores and about 12,000 staff.
Three rescues. Each one was meant to be the last.
Since 2020 Galeria has been rescued by its creditors, by the German state and by new owners. Each plan promised a store that could pay its way.
- An insolvency plan that wrote off more than €2 billion of debt and closed dozens of storesFirst insolvency, 2020Filed again in 2022
- €680 million of help from the federal stabilisation fund, as a loan and a silent stakeGerman state, 2021–2022About €552m expected to be lost
- A buyer is being sought
We are convinced that Galeria will have a successful future.
Management letter to staff, 2 Oct 2026 (translated from German)
One minute read. Four to go.
Will Galeria find a buyer or a rescue to keep its stores open by 31 March?
- Survivor
- A buyer or a rescue deal keeps Galeria's stores open by 31 Mar 2027.
- Write-off
- It closes for good, or nobody saves it by then.
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- What happens to Galeria next, as it happens
The BANKRUPT Test · Question 17 of 19
Does your company pay rent or fees to a business controlled by your own owners?
This question is about your company, not Galeria.
Your answer stays on this screen. The advice opens free when you join the Morning Warning List.
- In your company
- Look for any bill your company pays to a business your own owners also control: rent, fees, licences, loans. Ask who set the price and when it was last checked against the market. If nobody can show you, ask for the comparison before the next renewal.
- In your investments
- Read the note on related parties, the businesses its owners also control, in the annual report before you put money in. Check how much goes to businesses the owners control, and how that compares with sales and profit. If the note is thin or the amounts are growing faster than the business, ask why before you decide.
- In your career
- If you run a business inside a group, do not sign a lease or a contract with a sister company just because head office asks. Put the market price in writing beside it. If you have already signed one, raise it now, with the numbers, before the bill grows.
— Max Noble
Take the short test, 2 minutes →The full chapter is in the book →
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- Six years of shrinking, in one chart
- The rent that took up to a third of a store’s sales
- Three moves while the administrator decides
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Four filings. Fewer stores each time.
In 2019 Galeria had 174 stores and sales of €4.5 billion, according to the retail institute EHI.
In 2020 Covid closed every store. Galeria asked a court for protection, closed dozens of stores and had more than €2 billion of debt written off.
In late 2022 it filed again, with 131 stores, after talks on a third state loan failed. Creditors approved a plan in March 2023 that closed 47 stores.
In January 2024 it filed a third time, with 92 stores. New owners, NRDC Equity Partners and BB Kapital, bought it out of insolvency. Creditors were to get back about 2.5 to 3 cents of every euro they were owed.
By 2025 its sales were about €2 billion, EHI estimates. That is less than half of 2019.
Galeria stores at each filing
Sales, € million
Rent, cash, and a fourth court.
From 2019 Galeria and many of the buildings it rented had the same owner, the Signa group. Signa Prime owned 18 of its store buildings.
In some of them the rent took up to a third of the store’s sales, FashionUnited reported in January 2024, citing well-informed sources. In Cologne it was more than 30%. KaDeWe in Berlin, not in a Signa building, paid about 13%.
Of 92 stores at the time, 82 made money, Leadersnet reported. Nine of the ten that lost money were in Signa buildings.
It is hard to haggle with yourself.
The 2024 closures were expected to cut rent by about €80 million a year. It was not enough. In April 2026 landlords reported missed rent payments, dpa reported.
In June Gordon Brothers lent up to €160 million against the stock. In July 33 stores were put under review.
On 2 October Galeria filed at the Düsseldorf court. On 5 October the court ordered provisional proceedings and named Frank Kebekus provisional administrator. Full proceedings have not been opened.
On 20 October Galeria signed a new loan for the procedure, so goods flow and vouchers work again. Roland Berger is looking for a buyer, with candidates due in early January.
“In the end, it will probably be the case that not all 83 locations can continue,” Kebekus told ZDF on 16 October.
How Galeria reached its fourth court
Three moves while the administrator decides.
Rent every store at what it can earn.
A store that pays a third of its sales in rent cannot win. Each lease should be set by what the floor sells, or the store should go.
Keep the stores that pay their way.
Most stores made money before rent in 2024. The plan should start from those, not from a map.
Give shoppers a reason to come downtown.
Sales have halved since 2019. A smaller chain still needs something people cannot get online.
Keep the Landlord and the Owner Apart
Wismar, 14 May 1881. Rudolph Karstadt opened a cloth shop with 1,000 thaler, the money of the day, from his father. His shop grew into Germany’s department stores. Then, in 2019, one group came to own both the chain and many of the buildings it rented. In some of those buildings the rent reportedly took up to a third of the store’s sales. It is hard to haggle with yourself. In October 2026 Galeria filed for insolvency for the fourth time in six years. Someone must argue for the shop. Keep the landlord and the owner apart.
— Max Noble
Galeria and many of its buildings shared one owner, and in some stores the rent reportedly took up to a third of the sales.
From the book in preparationThe 42 Laws of BANKRUPT · the 2027 edition, out 31 OctoberRead every law so far →
The BANKRUPT Test · Question 17 of 19
Does your company pay rent or fees to a business controlled by your own owners?
This question is about your company, not Galeria.
- In your company
- Look for any bill your company pays to a business your own owners also control: rent, fees, licences, loans. Ask who set the price and when it was last checked against the market. If nobody can show you, ask for the comparison before the next renewal.
- In your investments
- Read the note on related parties, the businesses its owners also control, in the annual report before you put money in. Check how much goes to businesses the owners control, and how that compares with sales and profit. If the note is thin or the amounts are growing faster than the business, ask why before you decide.
- In your career
- If you run a business inside a group, do not sign a lease or a contract with a sister company just because head office asks. Put the market price in writing beside it. If you have already signed one, raise it now, with the numbers, before the bill grows.
— Max Noble
Take the short test, 2 minutes →The full chapter is in the book →
Every number traceable.
- Deutsche Biographie: Rudolph Karstadt opened his cloth shop in Wismar on 14 May 1881, with 1,000 thaler from his father, trading under his father’s name until 30 · deutsche-biographie.de
- inFranken (dpa), 2 Oct 2026: fourth filing; 2019 sales €4.5bn and 174 stores, 2025 about €2bn (EHI); missed rent in April; Gordon Brothers up to €160m in June; 33 stores under review; staff letter · infranken.de
- inFranken (dpa), Oct 2026: Düsseldorf court orders provisional proceedings, Frank Kebekus provisional administrator; 83 stores, about 12,000 staff · infranken.de
- inFranken, 20 Oct 2026: loan for the insolvency period with Gordon Brothers; goods flowing; vouchers redeemable · infranken.de
- ZDFheute, 16 Oct 2026: Kebekus interview, not all 83 locations will probably continue · zdfheute.de
- Lebensmittel Zeitung, Oct 2026: Roland Berger runs the buyer search; candidates due early January · lebensmittelzeitung.net
- FashionUnited, 1 Jul 2020: Essen court opens proceedings; 62 of 172 stores to close · fashionunited.de
- FashionUnited, 29 Mar 2023: more than €2bn written off in 2020; 2023 plan closes 47 of 129 stores · fashionunited.de
- betriebsrat.de, 2022: second filing, 131 stores, about 17,400 staff · betriebsrat.de
- FashionUnited, Jan 2024: third filing, 92 stores; rents in Signa buildings up to a third of sales; Cologne over 30%; KaDeWe about 13% · fashionunited.de
- Leadersnet, 2024: 82 of 92 stores profitable; 9 of 10 loss-makers in Signa buildings · leadersnet.de
- FashionUnited, 28 May 2024: creditors approve plan; claims €886.1m, about 2.5–3% back; closures to cut rent by about €80m a year · fashionunited.de
- Business Wire, 10 Apr 2024: NRDC Equity Partners and BB Kapital acquire Galeria out of insolvency · businesswire.com
- Deutscher Bundestag, printed paper 20/10491: WSF loan €460m (2021) and silent stake €220m (2022) · dserver.bundestag.de
- TextilWirtschaft: expected loss to the state of €552m · textilwirtschaft.de
Galeria has filed for insolvency; a court has ordered provisional proceedings but has not opened full proceedings. Rent figures for 2024 are press reports citing unnamed sources. The three moves and the law are Max Noble’s analysis. Not investment advice.
Your turn. Does Galeria survive?
Filed 6 days ago. Make your call, beat the other players, and climb the board.
You are the CEO. What do you do first?
Pick one, then see what the other players chose and which move I would make.
The read-the-story quiz
Three points for each right answer. Your first answer counts.
Keep the Landlord and the Owner Apart
The same mistake, in your own world. Free, from the book.
- In your company
- Look for any bill your company pays to a business your own owners also control: rent, fees, licences, loans. Ask who set the price and when it was last checked against the market. If nobody can show you, ask for the comparison before the next renewal.
- In your investments
- Read the note on related parties, the businesses its owners also control, in the annual report before you put money in. Check how much goes to businesses the owners control, and how that compares with sales and profit. If the note is thin or the amounts are growing faster than the business, ask why before you decide.
- In your career
- If you run a business inside a group, do not sign a lease or a contract with a sister company just because head office asks. Put the market price in writing beside it. If you have already signed one, raise it now, with the numbers, before the bill grows.