Thalia CEO calls for political action to revitalize German city centers

Thalia CEO Ingo Kretzschmar is calling for increased political engagement to revitalize German city centers in the face of rising competition from Chinese discount e-commerce platforms such as Temu and Shein.

Kretzschmar noted that while Europe remained passive, approximately one-third of last year's Christmas business was conducted through Asian online platforms. He emphasized that city centers serve as 'social glue' and warned that their decline would pose significant societal problems. To address these challenges, Thalia is participating in the Lebendige Stadt Foundation, which aims to bring together local government, federal politics, and the private sector to develop pilot projects and scalable concepts for urban revitalization.