According to the German website Merkur.de, the company will close up to 300 stores, admitting that the current strategy of rapid expansion has not brought the expected results.
The rest of the text below the video
Read also: The labor market in Poland is becoming more and more difficult. This will affect unemployment
Hundreds of closures by 2026
By the end of 2026, the number of KiK stores is expected to decrease by approximately 225 – to just over 4,000. branches. In Germany alone, approximately 135 stores will disappear, which means the network will be reduced to approximately 2,200. points.
In total, approximately 300 stores are planned to be closed in Europe, while opening 75 new locations.
For now, the company has not provided a list of facilities intended for liquidation, that's why it is not known which stores will be closed in Poland, although some of them have already closed.
KiK employs approximately 32,000 people. people, including 19 thousand in Germany. The chain declares that it does not plan any layoffs – employees of the closed stores are to be offered jobs in other locations.
However, not all employees have been informed about the changes yet.
KiK's chief financial officer, Christian Kümmel, admitted that the company must correct its previous development strategy. In many cases, stores were built too close to each other – even less than a kilometer apart.
Read also: Orlen relies on gas from the USA. We want to be a leader in the region
The current goal is to improve the profitability of the entire network. The company emphasizes that the remaining stores are profitable, but does not rule out further closures in the coming years.
Already in 2025, KiK announced the liquidation of unprofitable branches. In previous years, an average of about 100 stores were closed per year, but the number of new openings was higher, which allowed the chain to continue to grow.
Difficult clothing trade market. E-commerce with an increasing advantage
KiK's decisions are part of a broader crisis of stationary trade in Germany. Growing e-commerce competition and the weaker consumer condition are putting increasing pressure on traditional stores.
According to industry data, the number of stores in Germany may fall below 300,000 in 2026, while in 2015 there were approximately 372,000. In turn, Allianz Trade indicates that 2,571 trade insolvencies were recorded in 2025 – the highest number in a decade.
Additionally, data from the BTE association show that as many as half of clothing stores ended 2025 with an operating loss, and only one third of companies count on an increase in sales in 2026.
