The renowned department store KaDeWe, an abbreviation of the full name Kaufhaus des Westens in Berlin, has filed for creditor protection. The company, which also includes the Alsterhaus department stores in Hamburg and Oberpollinger in Munich, is optimistic about a potential restart. 
The iconic building boasts 60,000 m² of sales space and more than 380,000 different items, including many home-related products.
Since its establishment in 1907, the well-known department store KaDeWe, located near Berlin's Wittenberg Platz, has gained an iconic status in the German capital and has become a popular tourist destination. Although sales figures have been flourishing recently, the company states that "exorbitantly high rents" make it nearly impossible to operate profitably.
KaDeWe has filed a type of bankruptcy application characteristic of companies with prospects for continuation of their activities, and the intention is to keep the stores open for the time being. Approximately 900 people are employed at KaDeWe in Berlin, while Alsterhaus in Hamburg and Oberpollinger in Munich respectively have 200 and 300 employees. The parent company, Signa, which owns almost half of KaDeWe, has been in financial trouble for some time and also owns Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof, which recently filed for bankruptcy.