«Was es im Kapitalismus gibt, gibt es im Warenhaus». Die Entwicklung der Warenhäuser in der Bundesrepublik
Everything capitalism has to offer is in the department store The development of department stores in the Federal Republik of Germany The development of West German department stores after 1949 started off successfully. Indeed until 1973/4 department stores held a market share of more than ten percent of total retail turnover in Germany, a share greater than that for department store chains anywhere else in Europe. Since then their share decreasing steadily, reaching just 3.9 % by 1994. From 1980 to the present day, decreasing market share was accompanied by only indifferently rising or stagnant gains in turnover from 1980 to the present day. Moreover, this development was accompanied by considerable concentration, so that eventually only four, and in the end only two, major department store corporations were left. This article focuses primarily on the causes of this decline and identifies a number of them by using quantitative data as well several qualitative examples. One of the most important reasons for the decline was the emergence of new types of retail stores, all of which pursued aggressive price strategies. In addition, high costs of department stores due to location and personnel requirements also constituted an important factor in decline as well as mismanagement in numerous cases. But most importantly, the decision of most department store companies to adhere to their traditional strategy of offering a complete range of consumer goods under one roof was the fundamental cause of decline. Beginning in the 1980s, there was a gradual strategic reorientation characterised by the replacement of traditional mentalities focused on turnover by a stress on profit and other measures of performance. This, however, did not help in enabling department stores from regaining lost market share; it only prevented them from losing even more than they did.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Pages 3-30
- Authors
- Ralf Banken, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main
- Journal Zeitschrift für Unternehmensgeschichte / Journal of Business History
- Print ISSN 0342-2852
- Journal Volume Volume 57
- Journal Issue Volume 57, Number 1 / April 2012