Department stores: 75 million euros in insolvency money approved for the majority of Galeria employees - but 1,600 get nothing

Dusseldorf. The Federal Employment Agency (BA) has approved insolvency benefits for employees of the Galeria department store chain. The BA confirmed this to Handelsblatt. This makes it clear: BA will pay the wages and salaries of employees in the 83 branches until the end of the year.

“After intensive examination of the complex facts, the current legal situation means that the 9,685 employees are entitled to insolvency money,” the BA told Handelsblatt. The remaining 1,600 employees from other business areas are part of a different process and the decision will therefore come later.

The insolvency money is pre-financed through a bank so that it can be paid out quickly. This means that a prerequisite is met in order to initially continue business operations.

At the beginning of the month, the company, which now has its headquarters in Düsseldorf, filed for bankruptcy for the fourth time in six years. On Monday, the Düsseldorf District Court ordered the preliminary insolvency proceedings for the Galeria department store chain and appointed Frank Kebekus as the preliminary insolvency administrator. As an administrator, Kebekus already accompanied the insolvency proceedings for the group in 2020 and 2022.