Arcandor

Arcandor AG ("KarstadtQuelle AG" until June 30 2007) (fwbr|AROG) is a holding company located in Essen, Germany that operates and oversees a number of companies in the core areas of mail order, department store and tourism. 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. 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.

History

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, only to be renamed Arcandor AG on July 1, 2007.

Arcandor AG business segments

Arcandor is active in the following business segments:

* Brick-and-mortar operations:
**Department stores: Karstadt, 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: Bucher Reisen, Thomas Cook Group
**Financial services: KarstadtQuelle Bank, KarstadtQuelle Finanz Service, KarstadtQuelle Versicherungen (22.5%)
**Other services: Customer Advantage Program (HappyDigits), Itellium, KarstadtQuelle Information Services

Chairpeople of the executive committee of Arcandor AG

*Walter Deuss (1999-2000)
*Wolfgang Urban (2000–2004)
*Christoph Achenbach (2004-2005)
*Harald Pinger (2005)
*Thomas Middelhoff (since 2005)

External links

* [http://www.arcandor.com/ Official website of the corporation]
*de icon [http://www.karstadt.de/ Official website of Karstadt]
*de icon [http://www.quelleshop.de/ Official website of the stationary stores of Quelle]
*de icon [http://www.quelle.de/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/de/-/EUR/Q_Storefront-Start Official website of the mail order Quelle]
*de icon [http://www.neckermann.de/index.mb1?mb_f020_id=Ju1VLwyHuT6qiHRs4lozb-PLsQLDzDs9&mb_v301_ch=ae8aa Official website of Neckermann Versand]
*de icon [http://www.neckermann-reisen.de/ Neckermann Travel Site] - tour operator
*de icon [http://www.thomascook.de/ Thomas Cook Travel Site] - online travel agency
*de icon [http://www.thomascook-reisen.de/ Thomas Cook Operator Site] - tour operator
*de icon [http://www.bucher.de/ Bucher Last Minute Travel Site]