19.10.2007, Ursula Karven becomes yoga and wellness ambassador

Hamburg/Essen, 19 October 2007. Karstadt sports, one of the leading sports retailers in Germany, is repositioning itself and presents actress and Yoga expert Ursula Karven as the new ambassador for its modern wellness range. "With this, Karstadt sports is incorporating market trends with strong growth, because for more and more people sport is related to enjoyment and well-being," emphasised Peter Wolf, Chairman of the Management Board of Karstadt and member of the Board of Arcandor Holding, pointing out that Karstadt sports was well-known for its comprehensive range and its excellent expertise in functional sports wear and sports equipment. "Now we will also become partners of our customers for lifestyle fashion and wellness topics, because the border between sports and lifestyle is no longer perceptible," continued Wolf. Karstadt is transferring its fashion expertise as a leading German textile retailer to Karstadt sports. In order to make this change towards becoming a retailer of modern lifestyle products clearly visible for customers on the outside, the sports division of the retail company will present itself in the market under the name Karstadt sports with the new motto "Enjoy sports and style".

With its new focus on lifestyle-oriented sports such as Yoga and Pilates, Karstadt sports meets the general wellness trend and increasingly appeals to female target groups. During the next two years sales areas at Karstadt sports will be completely redesigned according to the repositioning. By the end of 2009, the complete share of lifestyle products offered is to be above 40 per cent. The redesign in the seven flagship stores in Hamburg (Mönckebergstrasse), Hanover, Dortmund, Berlin (Kranzlereck), Munich, Karlsruhe and Bremen is to be completed by March 2008.

Furthermore, Ursula Karven will design a Yoga collection with Kim Steeb, together with whom she manages the well-known "YogaYou" school in Mallorca. They will bring their many years of experience as Yoga experts to this collection, which will be developed exclusively for Karstadt. The collection will combine the sports side of Yoga with a wellness factor focussing on comfortable materials and natural fibres combined with functional designs. The Yoga collection will be available exclusively from Karstadt sports in 45 sports stores next spring.

Press contact:
Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH
Martin Schleinhege  /  Michael Scheibe
Phone: +49-(0)201 - 727 - 9667 / +49-(0)201 - 727 - 2124
Email: martin.schleinhege@arcandor.com
Email: michael.scheibe@karstadt.de