Comparative Analysis of Department Stores and Shopping Centers in Germany and Spain

Wappler, Christoph

Comparative Analysis of Department Stores and Shopping Centers in Germany and Spain

Zusammenfassung

Inhaltsangabe:Abstract:
Why are traditional German department stores close to bankruptcy in a time when so many new shopping centers with a similar offering of goods are being built? Is this phenomenon just a problem of German companies or do other countries have the same situation? For comparison, the situations in different countries, Germany and Spain are picked.
Most of the literature in the field of retail management is written about US American companies. Thus, this thesis cannot totally ignore it. E-commerce, despite its growing importance, is not part of this comparison, as both retail formats are faced with the same opportunities and threats by it.
The starting point of this thesis is the difficult situation Karstadt was facing in the last two years and the story about the successful department store concept of El Corte Inglés in Spain; hence these two companies play a major role throughout this thesis.
The introduction provides the reader with an overview of the thesis. Furthermore, the question is addressed, if department stores and shopping centers can be compared.
The main body of this thesis consists of three parts, which are structured after the same pattern: country level, industry level and company level. First, data is collected for a later analysis. Chapter 2 gathers all relevant information about Germany and Spain and then narrows down to the history of department stores and shopping centers. The company data is shown in its own chapter 3, as a major part of this thesis should be the company comparison of Karstadt and El Corte Inglés. The market leaders in the respective markets are shown in case studies and complemented by data of the two companies that emphasizes the final analysis and conclusion.
The theoretical background of company analysis is given in chapter 4. Again, the first part about the macro environment concentrates on the country level. Then, the micro environment forces comparing the attractiveness of industries are explained. The last part contains the fundamentals of the internal environment analysis, which reflects the company level.
In chapter 5, the findings are used to construct profiles, point out differences between the different countries, industries and companies, and to find ideas for improving the existing management strategies of the given companies.
The conclusion not only provides a summary of the thesis, it also gives a forecast and identifies sources and possibilities for further […]

Leseprobe

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Christoph Wappler

Comparative Analysis of Department Stores and Shopping Centers in Germany and

Spain

ISBN-10: 3-8324-9815-X

ISBN-13: 978-3-8324-9815-3

Druck Diplomica® GmbH, Hamburg, 2006

Zugl. Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Deutschland, MA-Thesis /

Master, 2006

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III

Table of Contents

Page

List of Figures ...VI

List of Tables ...VII

List of Abbreviations ... VIII

1 Introduction ... 1

1.1 Overview... 1

1.2 Comparing Department Stores and Shopping Centers ... 3

2 Data

Collection... 6

2.1 Countries ... 6

2.1.1 Germany... 6

2.1.2 Spain... 8

2.2 Large-Scale

Retailing... 11

2.2.1 Department Stores... 12

2.2.2 Shopping Centers ... 15

3 Case

Studies ... 20

3.1 Karstadt Warenhaus/Karstadt Quelle... 20

3.1.1 History... 20

3.1.2 Karstadt's Crisis... 22

3.1.3 Facts and Figures ... 23

3.1.4 Forecast ... 24

3.2 El Corte Inglés ... 27

3.2.1 History... 27

3.2.2 Facts and Figures ... 28

Table of Contents

3.2.3 Forecast ... 29

3.3 ECE

Projektmanagement ... 30

3.3.1 History... 30

3.3.2 Facts and Figures ... 32

3.3.3 Forecast ... 33

3.4 Sonae Sierra/Sonae SGPS... 34

3.5 Excursus: Galeria Kaufhof/Metro Group... 34

3.6 Excursus:

ALDI ... 35

4 Strategic

Analysis ... 38

4.1 External Environment Analysis ... 39

4.1.1 Macro Environment Forces... 41

4.1.1.1 Political

Factors ... 41

4.1.1.2 Economic

Factors... 42

4.1.1.3 Socio-cultural

Factors ... 43

4.1.1.4 Technological

Factors... 44

4.1.2 Micro Environment Forces ... 44

4.1.2.1 Buyers ... 45

4.1.2.2 Substitutes ... 47

4.1.2.3 Suppliers ... 47

4.1.2.4 Potential

Entrants ... 48

4.1.2.5 Rivalry among Existing Firms ... 48

4.2 Internal Environment Analysis ... 49

4.3 Strategy

Formulation ... 50

4.4 Successful

Business

Models ... 53

Table of Contents

5 Benchmarking... 55

5.1 Profiles ... 56

5.1.1 Germany vs. Spain ... 56

5.1.2 Department Stores vs. Shopping Centers... 57

5.1.3 Karstadt vs. El Corte Inglés ... 59

5.2 Implications... 61

6 Conclusion... 64

6.1 Further

Research ... 66

Annex 1: Six-year Summary of Karstadt... 67

Annex 2: Comparison of Germany and Spain ... 68

Annex 3: Comparison of the EU and the USA ... 69

Annex 4: Index Scores and Ranks for Countries and Regions from the IBM Set ... 70

Annex 5: Computations for the Profiles... 71

Bibliography... 76

List of Figures

Figure 1: Overview of the Thesis...2

Figure 2: Department Store vs. Shopping Center vs. Central Business District...5

Figure 3: Business Unit Strategic-Planning Process...38

Figure 4: Opportunity Matrix...40

Figure 5: Threat Matrix...40

Figure 6: Five Competitive Forces...45

Figure 7: Generic Strategies: Karstadt Stuck in the Middle ...61

VII

List of Tables

Table 1: Case Studies...20

Table 2: Checklist for Performing Strength and Weakness Analysis...50

Table 3: Generic Strategies ...51

Table 4: Characteristics of Successful Business Models ...54

Table 5: Profile of the Macro Economic Forces in Germany and Spain ...57

Table 6: Profile of the Internal Environment Analysis of Karstadt and El Corte Inglés 60

VIII

List of Abbreviations

CEO

Chief executive officer

EBIT

Earnings before interests and taxes

EBITDA

Earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortization

ECE

ECE Projektmanagement GmbH & Co. KG

ed.

Edition

et al.

Et alii (and others)

ETA

Euskadi Ta Askataska (Basque Homeland and Freedom)

European

Union

EU-15

The 15 initial countries of the European Union

EU-25

All 25 current European Union member countries

FRG

Federal Republic of Germany

GDP

Gross Domestic Product

GDR

German

Democratic

Republic

GLA

Gross leasable area

H&M

Hennes and Mauritz

ICSC

International Council of Shopping Centers

IVA

Impuesto sobre el valor anadido (value added tax in Spain)

loc. cit.

Loco citato (at the place already cited)

n/a

Not

available

NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

OECD

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

PEST

Political, economic, socio-cultural and technological

PSOE

Partido Socialista Obrero Español (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party)

List of Abbreviations

SWOT

Strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats

USt

Umsatzsteuer (value added tax in Germany)

United

Nations

VAT

Value added tax

vs.

Versus

Introduction

Why are traditional German department stores close to bankruptcy in a time when so

many new shopping centers with a similar offering of goods are being built? Is this

phenomenon just a problem of German companies or do other countries have the same

situation? For comparison, the situations in different countries, Germany and Spain are

picked.

Most of the literature in the field of retail management is written about US American

companies. Thus, this thesis cannot totally ignore it. E-commerce, despite its growing

importance, is not part of this comparison, as both retail formats are faced with the same

opportunities and threats by it.

The starting point of this thesis is the difficult situation Karstadt was facing in the last

two years and the story about the successful department store concept of El Corte Inglés

in Spain; hence these two companies play a major role throughout this thesis.

1.1

Overview

The introduction provides the reader with an overview of the thesis. Furthermore, the

question is addressed, if department stores and shopping centers can be compared.

The main body of this thesis consists of three parts, which are structured after the same

pattern: country level, industry level and company level. First, data is collected for a

later analysis. Chapter 2 gathers all relevant information about Germany and Spain and

then narrows down to the history of department stores and shopping centers. The

company data is shown in its own chapter 3, as a major part of this thesis should be the

company comparison of Karstadt and El Corte Inglés. The market leaders in the

respective markets are shown in case studies and complemented by data of the two

companies that emphasizes the final analysis and conclusion.

Introduction

Figure 1: Overview of the Thesis

ATA

OLLECTION

Countries and Industries

Company Case Studies

NTRODUCTION

HEORETICAL

ACKGROUND

Strategic Analysis

OMPARATIVE

NALYSIS

Benchmarking

ONCLUSION

HAPTER

Introduction

The theoretical background of company analysis is given in chapter 4. Again, the first

part about the macro environment concentrates on the country level. Then, the micro

environment forces comparing the attractiveness of industries are explained. The last

part contains the fundamentals of the internal environment analysis, which reflects the

company level.

In chapter 5, the findings are used to construct profiles, point out differences between

the different countries, industries and companies, and to find ideas for improving the

existing management strategies of the given companies.

The conclusion not only provides a summary of the thesis, it also gives a forecast and

identifies sources and possibilities for further research.

1.2

Comparing Department Stores and Shopping Centers

The typical comparison made in literature as well as in politics, is the comparison of

shopping centers and central business districts. While central business districts were the

dominant form in the past, the importance of shopping centers has grown within the last

decades. Stores, sited in central business districts for many decades, went bankrupt,

after a new shopping center in the neighborhood opened its doors.

European central

business districts are not ready for this competition from well-managed shopping

centers. They need the help of the government to keep them from dying, because if the

right combination of specialty stores exists in a shopping center, it can replace a

traditional department store

or central business district.

See Gipp (2005), p. 1.

See ECE Projektmanagement GmbH & Co. KG (2006a).

Introduction

There are different opinions about whether or not shopping centers are retailers.

From a

pragmatic point of view, a shopping center can be considered as large-scale retailer.

The shopping center management companies do not engage in the selling of

merchandise, but rent the location to shops. As the rent consists of a fixed payment and

a variable payment, based on the shops income, the management of shopping centers is

interested in successful tenants and shows many parallels to department store

management.

How do department stores fit into this comparison? Comparing the separate departments

of these large-scale retailers with their competitors, the answer to this question is easier

to find. A typical department has its competitors in the next shopping street, in a central

business district or in a shopping center.

Not just other department stores, but also the

combination of stores existing in shopping centers or central business districts can

replace a whole department store.

The concept of benchmarking allows not only comparisons within an industry, but

encourages a company to learn from other sectors.

Hence, taking shopping centers as a

benchmark might help the department store industry to overcome weaknesses, and

profit from new concepts and vice versa.

Normally, department stores are located in premium locations in central business

districts, shopping streets of suburbs or in shopping centers. Shopping centers can be

found in central business districts, shopping streets of suburbs and especially in the

USA in Greenfield sites. As illustrated in figure 2, even the intersection of all three

types is prevalent: a department store in a downtown shopping center.

Within the scope of this study, department stores and shopping centers will be

compared. Department stores in Europe, like Karstadt and El Corte Inglés, are normally

See Nieschlag/Kuhn (1980), p. 200.

See Marzen (1985), p. 178.

See ECE Projektmanagement GmbH & Co. KG (2006c).

See Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH (2005).

See Macharzina (2003), p. 243.

Introduction

not located in shopping centers. They are present in central business district and other

premium locations like the main shopping street of a suburb, since they were built many

years before shopping centers were invented.

Figure 2: Department Store vs. Shopping Center vs. Central Business District

In the next chapter, data about the two countries and the history of department stores

and shopping centers is presented to provide a more sophisticated understanding of the

leading question of this thesis.

Why are traditional German department stores close to bankruptcy in a time when so

many new shopping centers with a similar offering of goods are being built? Is this

phenomenon just a problem of German companies or do other countries have the

same situation?

See Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH (2005).

Data Collection

2.1

Countries

In order to later compare Germany and Spain; this chapter collects information about

these member countries of the EU. The political, economic, socio-cultural and

technological information is needed for an analysis of the macro environment forces in

chapter 5.1.1. The concept is explained in chapter 4.1.1.

A summary of the country data is listed in annex 2 and 3.

2.1.1

Germany

Germany is a key member of the political and defense organizations of the European

Union (EU). Germany triggered two World Wars and was occupied by the Allied

powers of the USA, UK, France and the Soviet Union after the end of World War II. In

1949, the western Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the eastern German

Democratic Republic (GDR) were formed. The FRG was democratic and become part

of the Western world's economic and security organizations. The Communist GDR was

in Soviet-led Warsaw Pact. After the decline of the USSR and the end of the Cold War

in 1990, Germany had its re-unification and since then, has tried to bring the former

Eastern Germany's productivity and wages up to Western standards.

The integration of the Eastern German into Western German economy is a long-term

process, costing year to year, around 70 billion euros. The aging population and the high

unemployment have put strong pressure on the social security system, where outlays

already exceed the contributions from workers. Because wages are often set on a

national basis and the strict labor laws, unemployment is one of Germany's main

problems in these years. Opportunities for Germany are corporate restructurings and the

growing capital markets in the EU.

See Central Intelligence Agency (2006b).

See loc. cit.

Data Collection

Germany is not only the nation in Europe with the most neighbor countries, but it also

has the leading economy and the highest population within the EU.

But the fifth

largest economy in the world is the slowest growing in the EU.

Even if German is the

most widely spoken language in the EU, the official language of the EU is English.

In Germany, unemployment has become a chronic problem in the last few years. After

adjusting the figures for seasonal effects, 11.3% of the civilian labor force is currently

unemployed. While in Western Germany 9.6% of the labor force is unemployed,

Eastern Germany has to fight unemployment of 18%. The highest monthly percentage

within the last couple of years with seasonally adjusted figures, was 12.1% (12.7%

without adjustment), which occurred in March 2005.

The value added tax (VAT) Umsatzsteuer (USt) in German is 16%. On 01 January

2007, the VAT will be increased by 3%.

The German Council of Economic Experts

advised the German government against taking this step.

As an effect of the increase,

the growth rate of the economy will be 1% less and some hundred thousand jobs will be

wiped out.

Other job killers are the regulations and laws in Germany, which influence

nearly all parts of life. Middle class entrepreneurs especially suffer under the torrent of

bureaucratic obstacles.

The German market shows a polarization towards discount and premium products.

Department stores offering middle class products are the losers of this trend.

See Kohl (1999), p. 53.

See Central Intelligence Agency (2006b).

See Bundesagentur für Arbeit (2006), p. 40.

See Axel Springer AG (2005b).

See Axel Springer AG (2005c).

See Axel Springer AG (2005b).

See Schmidt (1999), p. 25.

See ECE Projektmanagement GmbH & Co. KG (2006c).

Data Collection

Germany is a technologically advanced country.

The expenditure for research and

development in Germany represented 2.5% of GDP on an EU wide high level, but still

less than from countries like the USA (2.8%) or Japan (3.1%).

The political risk in Germany is low, showing a stable environment. In 2002, Germany

had 88 from 100 points (82 in 1998) in the International Country Risk Guide from the

PRS Group. For the situation on law and order, Germany gets 5 out of 6 points. This

stands for low risk. The Global Competitiveness Report from the World Economic

Forum ranks Germany as number 14 out of 80 tested countries. The Global

Competitiveness Report measures the capacity of an economy to achieve sustained

economic growth over a medium-term.

2.1.2

Spain

The Spanish civil war from 1936 to 1939 ended with the dictatorship of General

Francisco Franco. Not only were many human lives lost, but also the destruction of a

large part of the production facilities was a consequence of the war. Thus, Spain could

not gain economic benefit from staying neutral in World War II, like other countries

did. Until 1959, the politics of Franco incorporated the ability to stay independent from

imports by subsidizing the industry. Because it was not included in the Marshall Plan,

Spain experienced an era of stagnation.

Until 1957, many sectors were controlled by the state, including prices on agricultural

products, allocation of resources and wages. The consequences were wrong investment,

bureaucratic delaying, quality problems of the industry, insufficient quotas, corruption,

a growing black market and an increase in the difference in the standards of living of the

rich and the poor.

See Central Intelligence Agency (2006b).

See Eurostat (2005), p. 2.

See Enterprise Estonia (2006).

See Nohlen/Hildenbrand (2005), p. 21.

Data Collection

When Spain opened up for foreign countries, the Economic Miracle began. The

economic growth rates reached nine per cent per year, supported by a sky rocketing

tourism industry.

In 1975, the dictatorship ended with the death of the 82-year-old

Franco, and Juan Carlos I became king of Spain. The political system in Spain is a

parliamentary monarchy.

Even though voices for the independence of Catalonia get louder

, the biggest problem

in internal politics in Spain is the conflict with the Basque "Euskadi Ta Askatasuna"

(ETA).

The group became radical under the Franco regime in the 1960s, because any

kind of independence for the Basques was repressed. Numerous ceasefires were broken

by the ETA and resulted in bomb attacks, killings and abduction of industrialists.

the 11 March 2004, the days before the elections of the "Cortes Generales"

, bomb

attacks in four trains in Madrid killed 191 people. The former prime minister of Spain

José María Aznar accounted the ETA guilty for the killings. Large demonstrations

against the misinformation politics of the Aznar started, when the Al-Qaeda was held

responsible.

The outsider "Partido Socialista Obrero Español"

(PSOE) with José Luis Rodríguez

Zapatero won the elections with a small majority. During the government of Aznar,

Spain isolated itself in Europe with US oriented politics, while the cabinet around

Zapatero is more oriented towards the EU.

See loc. cit., p. 22.

See Deutschlandradio (2006).

Translated: Basque Homeland and Freedom.

See Nohlen/Hildenbrand (2005), p. 338.

See loc. cit., pp. 273-275.

Los Cortes Generales are the Spanish parliament.

See 3sat (2004).

Translated: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party.

See Nohlen/Hildenbrand (2005), pp. 16-17.

Data Collection

Spain is one of the ten largest economies in the world, the second largest country, by

size, in the EU-15 after France and the driest country in the EU.

Very strong sectors

are the construction, real estate and tourisms industries as well as private consumption.

Just the construction sector contributes 17.7% to the GDP.

Spain (1.1% of GDP) is far

behind the EU-25 average (1.9%) on research and development expenditures.

With the inclusion in the EU in 1986, Spain experienced five years of intensive growth

above EU average. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita of Spain started with

only 70.4% of EU average in 1985 and increased to 79.3% in 1991 (75% of the German

GDP). Especially, the high domestic demand helped the economy. After some years of

recession, Spain together with Ireland showed again the highest growth rates in the EU

in the second half of the 1990s.

The unemployment in Spain was cut in half from 1995 (22.9%) to 2002 (11.3%).

The

VAT in Spain is called impuesto sobre el valor anadido (IVA) and amounts to 16%.

The inflation has been on a high level for decades. From 1990 to 1995 the average

inflation was 5.4%, while from 1991 to today the inflation averaged out less than

3.0%.

Spain used to be the biggest beneficiary of EU payments. But from 2007 these

payments will constantly be decreased as Spain's GDP per capita will be above the

critical 90% line of the now bigger EU-25.

In Spain, four languages are official. While the Spanish constitution says in article 3

that Castilian (Spanish) has to be known by everyone and everybody has the right to use

, three regions are bilingual and speak Catalan, Basque or Galician as well. Around

See loc. cit., pp. 21, 108.

See Burgdorff et al. (2004), p. 513.

See Eurostat (2005), p. 2.

See Nohlen/Hildenbrand (2005), pp. 23-27.

See loc. cit., p. 27.

See Spanieninfo Agrupacion (2006).

See Wirtschaftskammers Österreichs (2006), p.1.

See Burgdorff et al. (2004), p. 513.

See Congreso de los Diputados (2002).

Data Collection

425 million people in the world speak Spanish, what make Spanish the fourth most

widely spoken language in the world.

But behind the term Spain, not only four languages are hidden. The country

incorporates four different cultures and four different nations

, minorities like the

Gitanos the Spanish gypsies not included.

Trademarks and quality are very important to Spanish consumers.

2.2

Large-Scale Retailing

Technology and globalization are reshaping the world with an accelerating rate of

change. Companies can change or they will disappear from the market.

Thus, they

need to find new competitive advantages. Some department store companies faced these

challenges successfully for more than 100 years and constantly reinvented its business.

Others were not able to prosper and lost their competitive advantage in the last years.

Thus, these companies went bankrupt.

To learn how department stores and shopping centers grew over time to the big large-

scale retailers they are now, this chapter gives an overview of their history.

See Pearson Education (2006).

See Bernecker/Oehrlein (1991), p. 387.

See Müller (2005), p. 3.

See Kotler (1999), p. 3.

Data Collection

2.2.1

Department Stores

Department Stores are large retail stores, which are arranged in sometimes more than

100 different departments and sell a wide variety of merchandise, making it available in

one place. Generally, the two major categories sold are apparel and home furnishings.

Department stores offer various services, like fashion shows, home delivery and credit

service, usually in the form of charge accounts. Within department stores

some specialized services or goods are offered by independent companies. They run

their own departments under the name of the department store. Services like

photographic supplies, shoe repair, beauty salons or millinery are often outsourced.

In the 1860s, the Bon Marché in Paris became the first department store. This former

dry-goods store was founded in 1838 as a small retail store. A wide assortment of items

was offered at a low and clearly marked price.

Most of the first department stores

were outgrowth of dry-goods stores, but also some general stores were the basis for this

new retail format. In 1885, the first store not converted into but directly operated as a

department store was Printemps, which was sited in Paris as well.

In the USA, Wanamaker in Philadelphia, Marshall Field in Chicago, Macy & Company

in New York and Jordan Marsh Company in Boston were transformed from dry-goods

stores into department stores in the 1860s and 70s.

This development was encouraged

by the concentration of the American population in urban centers and the growth of a

middle class. Also the introduction of mass manufacturing, new logistic methods as

well as innovations like the telephone, billing machines and the electric light were

needed for this new concept.

But not only had the fixed prices characterized this new retail format, merchandise

could be returned and the price was reimbursed or the good exchanged. Another

See Microsoft Encarta (2006), Department store.

See loc. cit., Bon Marché.

See loc. cit., Department store.

See loc. cit.

Details

Seiten
Erscheinungsform: Originalausgabe
Jahr: 2006
ISBN (eBook): 9783832498153
ISBN (Paperback): 9783838698151
DOI: 10.3239/9783832498153
Dateigröße: 678 KB
Sprache: Englisch
Institution / Hochschule: Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg – Fakultät für Wirtschaftswissenschaft
Erscheinungsdatum: 2006 (September)
Note: 3,0
Schlagworte: warenhaus einkaufszentrum spanien marketing karstadt

Autor

Christoph Wappler (Autor:in)

Comparative Analysis of Department Stores and Shopping Centers in Germany and Spain

Zusammenfassung

Leseprobe

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Details

Autor

Christoph Wappler (Autor:in)