Jennings Will Leave Karstadt Group

The Karstadt Department Store Group GmbH (Essen, Germany) has announced that Andrew Jennings, the luxury retail veteran, will leave his post as ceo when his contract expires at the end of the year.

Jennings – who has held top posts at Woolworths South Africa, Saks Fifth Avenue (New York), Holt Renfrew (Toronto) and Harrods (London), among others – was hired in 2011 by Karstadt owner and billionaire investor Nicolas Berggruen to turn the struggling operation around.

Reports are the two have clashed repeatedly, mostly about Berrgruen’s refusal to fund the 120-store group, which he bought out of bankruptcy for 1 euro. Berggruen had said he would invest 70 million euros, or about $89 million, of his own capital as soon as the sales contract was officially accepted.

“I didn’t know how ill Karstadt really was after 20 years of mismanagement,” Berggruen said last week.

Women’s Wear Daily reported that Jennings significantly modernized the stores’ fashion assortments, introducing about 50 new brands from the U.S., England and Scandinavia. However, said WWD, with little funds to sufficiently publicize these unfamiliar labels, the changes didn’t bring the hoped for results.