Karstadt To Sell Fitness Unit, Mulls Future of Starbucks

German retail giant KarstadtQuelle, which is fighting massive losses, said Monday it was negotiating with potential buyers for its Karstadt Fitness chain of gyms. The company only acquired the division last year from the US-based 24 Hour Fitness. The company's new chairman, Christoph Aschenbach said in an interview over the weekend that the fitness division no longer belonged to KarstadtQuelle's core business. KarstadtQuelle is also the German operator of the American coffee chain Starbucks, and the company said that relationship was also under the loop. A spokesman said the company was currently in talks with Starbucks about the conditions of its contract with the Seattle-based company. KarstadtQuelle operates 31 Starbucks outlets in Germany, but the company recently stated the unit would continue to bleed red ink through 2007. The company is also considering selling its 40 percent share in cable sports broadcaster DSF, which it acquired in April 2003, as part of a restructuring strategy aimed at putting the beleaguered catalog sales and department store company back to profitability. However, KarstadtQuelle said it is not considering selling its shares in travel company Thomas Cook.