Retail Giant to Cut Jobs, Cancel Starbucks Contract

In a move to fight further losses, Germany's struggling retail giant Karstadt-Quelle plans to fully shut down five of its stores and cancel its contract with Starbucks. Reports say that Karstadt is looking to sell 77 of the 180 Karstadt-branded retail outlets. The number is three times more than expected, according to Essen's Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung. Though the stores will remain under Karstadt-Quelle's umbrella, their product range is to be massively reduced. In the first term of 2004, the Essen-based company suffered a loss of €300 million ( $368.7) Insiders expect 8,500 of 76,00 jobs to be cut. The contract with the Seattle coffee chain Starbucks, which many blame for occupying too much of the company's focus, has been cancelled.