Douglas, Germany's biggest perfume retailer, closed 500 stores after PE takeover

Douglas was founded in 1821 as a soap factory in Hamburg and grew into Germany's largest perfume and cosmetics retailer. For 191 years, the Kreke family ran the business, building a chain of 2,400 perfumeries across Europe. In 2012, the family and Advent International took the company private; in June 2015, 85% of the perfume division was sold to CVC Capital Partners, a private equity firm, for an undisclosed sum.

CVC loaded Douglas with debt to finance the acquisition and its own dividends. The company's interest burden grew as it invested in e-commerce and store renovations. By 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had devastated in-store sales: revenue fell 6.4% to €3.2 billion and operating profit dropped 16.7% to €292 million, even as online sales surged 40.6% to €822 million.

On 14 January 2021, Douglas announced it would close approximately 500 stores — one-fifth of its network — across Europe, including 60 in Germany, 103 in Spain, and most of its 41 Nocibé stores in France. About 2,500 jobs were cut. The closures were concentrated in Southern Europe, where the stores were smallest and least profitable. In its 2022 fiscal year, Douglas reported a net loss of €306 million on revenue of €3.65 billion.