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The world was already looking better for Tchibo. The German retailer, which delights its customers with a new theme every week, is in the red. The Hamburg company made a loss of 167 million euros on sales of 3.2 billion euros in 2022; this was the largest loss in the company’s history, which began in 1949.
The company’s typical mix of “coffee and trifles”, as the German “Lebensmittelzeitung” puts it, is apparently no longer as effective as ever. The result for the Tchibo Group in its home market, Germany: misery, crisis, layoffs.
Marcel Saluz says things look different in Switzerland. According to the Swiss country manager, this means: better. Although Saluz is not allowed to disclose sales and profit figures, he can say: “Tchibo is profitable in Switzerland.” What probably helped and continues to help the Swiss branch: lower inflation, more purchasing power, a stronger economy than the neighboring country.
Tchibo Switzerland boss: “We are poor”
Compared to Tchibo’s home country of Germany, where the company operates 550 Tchibo branches and 8,000 shop-in-shops, the local branch presence is proportionately reduced with 38 stores and around 400 shops-within-shops, mostly in the Coop. “Everything is smaller and more manageable here, we can move and react very nimbly,” says Saluz.
Tchibo is the boss of Switzerland, he does not mind being a small figure in the structure of this country formed by the orange superpowers Coop and Migros. On the contrary, Saluz says: “My advantage is that we are the underdog in the Swiss retail trade.”
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This article was first published on the paid service of handelszeitung.ch. Blick+ users have exclusive access as part of their subscription. You can find more exciting articles at www.handelszeitung.ch.
However, the motto of Saluz, which caused much more damage before the Tchibo Switzerland launch in February 2020, is not just to stay small. At that time, the Coop City store, located on Zurich Bahnhofstrasse and offering more than 10,000 square meters of sales space, was opened in St. He was the president of Annahof. Tchibo stores are 50 to 100 times smaller; Here, the country manager hosts customers in areas of 100 to 200 square meters, although he prefers the word “guest”.
New branches are sought in German-speaking Switzerland and French-speaking Switzerland
There are plans to expand and more branches will open soon. Tchibo Switzerland aims for a larger footprint. Saluz says with Swiss modesty: “Growth is preceded by the revitalization of existing stores. “We also see room for five to ten new branches in German- and French-speaking Switzerland over the next five years.”
Tchibo – Sounds more southern European than Hansa. However, the name of the company does not come from an Italian or Spanish surname, but from the German co-founder of the company.
The Hamburg Tchibo Group was founded in 1949 by Max Herz and Carl Tchilling. A startup today will likely take inspiration from the syllable “calm” and come up with a particularly cool company name. But things were different back then. The two company founders created the name “Tchibo” by combining the first letters of the surname “Tchilling” and the word “bean”.
Michael Herz, son of Tchibo co-founder Max Herz, is still involved today. Michael Herz turns 80 these days. He is also responsible for the business of Tchibo’s parent company, Maxingvest, which owns approximately 51 percent of the cosmetics company Beiersdorf (Nivea).
Tchibo – Sounds more southern European than Hansa. However, the name of the company does not come from an Italian or Spanish surname, but from the German co-founder of the company.
The Hamburg Tchibo Group was founded in 1949 by Max Herz and Carl Tchilling. A startup today will likely take inspiration from the syllable “calm” and come up with a particularly cool company name. But things were different back then. The two company founders created the name “Tchibo” by combining the first letters of the surname “Tchilling” and the word “bean”.
Michael Herz, son of Tchibo co-founder Max Herz, is still involved today. Michael Herz turns 80 these days. He is also responsible for the business of Tchibo’s parent company, Maxingvest, which owns approximately 51 percent of the cosmetics company Beiersdorf (Nivea).
When Saluz looks at the confidential set of figures in Switzerland, he sees several developments: “There is strong growth in coffee, we maintain our non-food sales, online it is not so good.” So have the Swiss gradually lost their appetite for trivia and the roaster has begun to rust with its original concept? Is Tchibo’s concept of weekly changing theme worlds a discontinued model? Saluz denies this and points to series that consistently perform well: “Anything that requires quick renewal always goes well. That is, children’s belongings, ski equipment or bedding.” It can be assumed that other subject areas or “phases” as the boss prefers are not going well either.
Regarding the basic sales structure in Switzerland, Saluz says: “70 percent non-food, 30 percent coffee, with coffee trending to grow strongly.”
Tchibo wants to grow with mini coffee shops
Therefore, it is clear that the Tchibo Switzerland boss wants to step up the pace on coffee. Saluz says the plan is to enter the local market with a new format much smaller than the typical Tchibo branch: “Together with Tchibo Austria, we have developed a cafe format called Kaffee Max between 20 and 50 square metres. Pilot operation in Vienna.”
At the farmers’ market in Vienna’s 1st district, preparations are being made for what will soon arrive in Switzerland. Saluz has coffee breaks in mind, as we know in this country from Valora subsidiary Caffè Spettacolo and successful coffee newcomers Vicafe: “We serve from the coffee window if possible; If space allows, it is possible to sit in up to ten seats.” With the mini concept, the Tchibo Switzerland boss highlights places that are probably also in the focus of all other coffee players, from Starbucks to Vicafe and local coffee champions: “Urban places such as train stations or shopping streets; “We are currently actively looking for a location.”
Fear of competition? “No bean,” says Saluz: “Our goal is to open Kaffee Max stores in the first half of 2024.” How many and where? This remains his secret for now.
Source :Blick
I’m Tim David and I work as an author for 24 Instant News, covering the Market section. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, my mission is to provide accurate, timely and insightful news coverage that helps our readers stay informed about the latest trends in the market. My writing style is focused on making complex economic topics easy to understand for everyone.
