Alsterhaus

In 1912, the merchant Oscar Tietz opened a grand department store, "Warenhaus Hermann Tietz," on Hamburg's prestigious Jungfernstieg. It was an immediate city landmark, offering a luxurious assortment of goods. The store's trajectory shifted dramatically during the Nazi regime; the Jewish Tietz family was forced to flee, and the business was Aryanized, receiving its current name, Alsterhaus, in 1935. Post-war, the store regained its footing and, by 1994, was acquired by the Karstadt group. This marked a period of integration into a larger retail structure. A more significant change occurred following an acquisition by Signa Holding, when Alsterhaus, alongside Berlin's KaDeWe and Munich's Oberpollinger, formed the KaDeWe Group to distinguish these premium stores. In 2015, a majority stake was sold to the Thai Central Group, a major international retail player. The story took another turn in late 2023 and early 2024 with the insolvency of its co-owner, Signa Holding. This event prompted the KaDeWe Group itself to file for insolvency, citing exorbitant rental costs from its own part-owner, Signa. In a decisive move in mid-2024, the Thai Central Group, owned by the Chirathivat family, acquired full ownership of the KaDeWe Group's business operations, securing the future of Alsterhaus and completing a century-long journey from family business to a key asset in a global luxury retail portfolio.