We would like to wish all association members, cooperation partners, and interested parties a happy festive season and a good start to 2024. Many people also like to spend the Christmas season visiting Christmas markets. During our visit to the Christmas market in Magdeburg, the Karstadt department store also blended into the bright city center. This lettering is unlikely to be seen for much longer – not only because it is gradually being replaced by the Galeria logo, but above all because of the current insolvency of companies in the Signa Group. This now also includes Signa Retail Selection, the Swiss subsidiary of the insolvent Austrian Signa Holding. This company holds the retail investments and therefore also includes the operating business of the Galeria department store chain in Germany. The creeping decline of department stores therefore continues. This makes the work of our association and the efforts to preserve department store culture in exhibitions and museum forms all the more necessary.