Every two years the arward is presented by the International Group of Department Stores (IGDS). 45 members from 37 countries are represented with more than 1200 retail stores on five continents and a total turnover of 45 billion Euros.
As the winner, the KaDeWe Group with its three luxury department stores KaDeWe in Berlin, Alsterhaus in Hamburg and Oberpollinger in Munich received the award for the “Most Innovative Department Store in the World” for the first time.
In the other award category “World’s Best Team at a Department Store,” the Wine & Spirits team at KaDeWe in Berlin was voted one of the top three in the world, taking third place.
André Maeder, CEO of the KaDeWe Group: “We are full of joy and simply incredibly proud! For the KaDeWe Group, the award as ‘Most Innovative Store of the World’ by the international industry is both a great appreciation and confirmation of our strategy. We are very honored by the award and we thank the IGDS jury. We thank our owners, Signa and Central Group, for their trust and continued support. A special thank you goes to all our teams for their commitment and for making KaDeWe, Alsterhaus and Oberpollinger what they are in the here and now as well as in the future: the most innovative retail icons in the world.”
Thailand’s Central Group holds a 50.1 percent stake in the KaDeWe Group, while Austrian conglomerate Signa holds the remaining 49.9 percent. Expansions are due in the first quarter of 2025 with the Carsch store in Düsseldorf and the Lamarr in Vienna.
