Arcandor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Founded | 1999 |
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| Headquarters | Essen, Germany |
| Industry | Retail |
| Website | www.arcandor.com |
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Arcandor AG (KarstadtQuelle AG until June 30 2007) (FWB: AROG) is a holding company located in Essen, Germany that oversees companies operating in the businesses of mail order and internet shopping, department stores, and tourism services. It was created in 1999 through the merger of Karstadt Warenhaus AG, which was founded in 1920, and Quelle Schickedanz AG & Co, founded in 1927. In 2005, the corporation had about 68,000 employees and annual sales of €15.5 billion. Its stocks are traded on the Mid Cap DAX. The company's largest store is Kaufhaus des Westens (KaDeWe) in Berlin, while the largest store under the name Karstadt is in Frankfurt. On May 11, 2009 the company requested government financial assistance due to liquidity problems. [1]. On June 6, 2009 the company announced that it is no longer able to pay rent for its departments stores, which the company had previously sold and leasebacked. [2] On June 9, 2009 the company filed for bankruptcy [3].
[edit] History
On 14 May 1881, Rudolph Karstadt founded his first store Tuch-, Manufaktur- und Konfektionsgeschäft Karstadt (Cloth, Manufacture, and Mass Production Business Karstadt) in Wismar. In 1884, a second store was opened in Lübeck. Soon, 24 stores had been opened in all of Northern Germany. In 1920, the business was turned into a joint stock company. In 1984, Karstadt acquired the mail-order business Neckermann Versand. In 1994, it acquired the department store chain Hertie, to which KaDeWe belonged. In 1999 it finally merged with Quelle AG to become KarstadtQuelle AG, only to be renamed Arcandor AG on July 1, 2007. The current chief executive officer is Karl-Gerhard Eick (since 2009).
On June 5, 2009 Arcandor's former CEO Thomas Middelhoff is probed by Prosecutors over breach of trust.
[edit] Arcandor AG business segments
Arcandor is active in the following business segments:
- Brick-and-mortar operations:
- Mail-order:
- General: neckermann.de (until 2005 known as Neckermann Versand), Quelle
- Specialty assortments: Walz, Hess Natur, Fritz Berger, Madeleine, BON'A PARTE, clinic+job-dress, DK Berufsmoden, Simon Jersey
- Services:
- Tourism: Bucher Reisen, Thomas Cook Group (52% ownership[4])
- Financial services: KarstadtQuelle Bank, KarstadtQuelle Finanz Service, KarstadtQuelle Versicherungen (22.5%)
- Other services: Customer Advantage Program (HappyDigits), Itellium, KarstadtQuelle Information Services
Arcandor's websites, when taken together, put Arcandor easily in the top 20, and maybe in the top 10, in the rankings of all web properties ranked by numbers of unique visitors per month, among internet users in Germany.[5]. Most of this traffic is shoppers at online stores branded with the company's brick-and-mortar store brands or its mail-order catalog brands.
[edit] References and External links
- ^ http://www.tagesschau.de/wirtschaft/arcandor134.html
- ^ http://www.tagesschau.de/wirtschaft/arcandor190.html
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8091298.stm
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8091298.stm
- ^ In July 2008 Arcandor AG's combined websites ranked number 9 on the list of all websites ranked by unique visitors per month, among German internet users, according to data compiled by Comscore. See [1]
- Official website of the corporation
- (German)Official website of Karstadt
- (German)Official website of the stationary stores of Quelle
- (German)Official website of the mail order Quelle
- (German)Official website of Neckermann Versand
- (German)Neckermann Travel Site - tour operator
- (German)Thomas Cook Travel Site - online travel agency
- (German)Thomas Cook Operator Site - tour operator
- (German)Bucher Last Minute Travel Site
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