Kaufhof is one of the rather large department store brands Berlin has. Chances are you have already been on one of the Kaufhof shops if you have visited Berlin. There is for example one rather large Kaufhof shop right at Alexanderplatz.
Now Canadian Hudson’s Bay has just bought Kaufhof for 2.8 Billion Euro and told the media, that ‘nothing much’ will change: people will keep their jobs, Berliners will keep their shops. Big news? Not really. But a bit strange anyways, since there has been some buying and selling of Berlin department stores in the recent past.
If I remember correctly first in 2013 the KaDeWe was sold to an Austrian investor “Benko” – then also all Karstadt department stores were sold to the same investor. Just last week the KaDeWe was then again sold to the Italian department store ‘chain’ La Rinascente – and Berliners are a bit concerned about the future of their shopping oasis.
I personally find it a bit strange when people buy and sell shops – but that’s probably just me.