Hudson’s Bay Europe to move into Galeria Kaufhof headquarters

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Aug 11, 2016

German department store Galeria Kaufhof is set to modernize its headquarters in Cologne to become the central office of Hudson’s Bay's European unit.

The move follows Galeria Kaufhof’s acquisition by Hudson’s Bay Company in October 2015. The headquarters in Cologne will be remodeled over the course of 18 months into a 38,000 sq mts modern service center.

The space will bring all of Hudson’s Bay European banners under one roof, including its already active department store businesses in Germany and the Netherlands. Hudson’s Bay also plans to launch in the Netherlands in 2017 and in Luxembourg in 2018, while its off-price concept Saks Off 5th is set to be launched in Germany and the Netherlands next year.

Donald Watros, President HBC International and Head of the Supervisory Board of Galeria Kaufhof, said: “The European business today represents about one third of the total HBC business. We are proud to further grow and strengthen our banners in Europe and to start new operations in the Netherlands and in Luxembourg. Cologne is the ideal backbone for our European expansion, providing central services like i.e. IT, logistics, personnel and finances.”

Kaufhof chief executive Olivier Van den Bossche, added: “We are particularly looking forward to bringing our associates from departments which had been transferred to other buildings in Cologne back to the central office, thus creating a joint working environment under one roof. In the refurbished head office, we will have room for 2,000 work stations.”

According to a statement, the lease for the Cologne city center space has been extended to run until the end of 2028.