In Berlin, Europe’s biggest department store takes settlement goods off shelves

[Little Tich]

Source: Times of Israel

KaDeWe says products will be sold again if labeled in accordance with EU ruling outlawing ‘Made in Israel’ tags for items from West Bank

Berlin’s largest department store has pulled several Israeli goods from its shelves following a European Union rule outlawing “Made in Israel” tags on products made in West Bank Jewish settlements or in the Golan Heights.

A spokesperson for KaDeWe (Kaufhaus des Westens) clarified, however, that the goods would once again be sold by the store after they are labeled in accordance with the new EU guidelines.

“We have taken the corresponding [Israeli] products out from our line of goods,” KaDeWe spokeswoman Petra Fladenhofer told German newspaper Der Spiegel. “We will, after appropriate labeling, put them back in our product line.”

KaDeWe, established in 1907 by a Jewish businessman, is the largest department store in continental Europe, serving tens of thousands of customers each day. In 1927, KaDeWe was purchased by a Jewish family business enterprise and was later boycotted by the Nazis, who finally seized the store in 1933. The department store reopened after World War II and is currently owned by a Thai company.

Read more: http://www.timesofisrael.com/in-berlin-europes-biggest-department-store-takes-settlement-goods-off-shelves/

[jmowreader]

1. Oh man, the KaDeWe...brings back memories...

My unit threw a lot of parties. I was in charge of the Unit Fund Committee, which is how we paid for them. The troops wanted to hold a New Orleans-themed party once.

"I don't know if we can do a New Orleans party. We'd need crawfish for that."
'Go to KaDeWe. They have them.'

Yeah, right...turns out they DID. The crawfish is not native to Europe...they were flying them in from the American South, and charging 40 DM a kilo for the privilege - and since about three-quarters of the weight of a crawdad is inedible, you do the math. We decided to have a different kind of party. Seriously tho, if there is anything in the entire world that you want and it's legal to possess in Germany, KaDeWe either has it in stock or can get it.

I know..."groceries at a department store?" Yes, and it's not the only department store on the Kurfürstendamm that has them. Many people live in apartments over the stores on the Ku-damm, the retail rents in the downtown core are way too high to support stand-alone grocery stores like Kaiser's, and people gotta eat.

[6chars]

2. German Department Store Backtracks, Apologizes for Removing Settlement Goods From Shelves

http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.687638

A German department store that came under fire for removing Israeli settlement goods from its shelves reversed the decision and apologized on Sunday, shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the store for its conduct.

In a statement, the Berlin-based KaDeWe, the largest department store in Europe, said its decision to not sell settlement products was too hasty and insensitive.

"We regret that this wrong behavior of the KaDeWe Group led to misunderstandings and would like to apologize for this," the department store said.

The department store said the earlier decision applied to eight Israeli wines that would be back in the store as of Sunday.

[leftynyc]

3. And put them right back on

After issuing an apology. Perhaps you should update your post.