KarstadtQuelle

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first Karstadt department store, opened 1881 in Wismar

KarstadtQuelle AG is a German mail order and department store corporation, the largest in Europe. 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 Euros. 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 14 May 1881, Rudolph Karstadt founded his first store Tuch-, Manufactur- und Confectionsgeschäft 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.

[edit] KarstadtQuelle AG business segments

KarstadtQuelle is active in the following business segments:

Brick-and-mortar operations:
- Department stores: Karstadt, Hertie, KaDeWe, Wertheim, Alsterhaus, WoM (World of Music), Schaulandt, LeBuffet, Fox Markt
- Specialty stores: KarstadtSport (athletic equipment, etc)
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: Neckermann Reisen, Bucher Reisen, Thomas Cook AG
- Financial services: KarstadtQuelle Bank, KarstadtQuelle Finanz Service, KarstadtQuelle Versicherungen (22.5%)
- Other services: Customer Advantage Program (HappyDigits), Itellium, KarstadtQuelle Information Services