Breuninger
Encyclopedia
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
-based German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
department store retailer trading under the name Breuninger. Targeted mainly at up-market shoppers, the Breuninger range is mainly restricted to fashion, clothing and premium household wares.
Headquarters
Breuninger was founded in 1881 on the same site it occupies today at the centre of Stuttgart on Marktplatz (market square). This head office outlet now covers 35,000 sq m and is one of the largest of its kind in the whole of Germany. In terms of privately-owned department stores, Breuninger's head office outlet in Stuttgart is the second largest in Europe (after HarrodsHarrods
Harrods is an upmarket department store located in Brompton Road in Brompton, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. The Harrods brand also applies to other enterprises undertaken by the Harrods group of companies including Harrods Bank, Harrods Estates, Harrods Aviation and Air...
).
The shop facade is known for its simplicity and austere appearance, in stark contrast to other premium department stores.
In 1989 the company's head office outlet in Stuttgart was extended such that it now embraces a pedestrian zone which runs through the centre of the shop and is still open to the public after closing.
Department stores
Breuninger is a household name in the Federal State of Baden-WürttembergBaden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
but over the past 2 decades it has gradually been expanding its presence to other major German cities
- ErfurtErfurtErfurt is the capital city of Thuringia and the main city nearest to the geographical centre of Germany, located 100 km SW of Leipzig, 150 km N of Nuremberg and 180 km SE of Hannover. Erfurt Airport can be reached by plane via Munich. It lies in the southern part of the Thuringian...
- Freiburg im Breisgau (through acquisition of Schneider)
- KarlsruheKarlsruheThe City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
(through acquisition of Schneider) - LeipzigLeipzigLeipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
- LudwigsburgLudwigsburgLudwigsburg is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg urban district with about 87,000 inhabitants...
(part of a major shopping centre called Breuningerland) - Nürnberg
- ReutlingenReutlingenReutlingen is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the capital of the eponymous district of Reutlingen. As of April 2008, it has a population of 109,828....
- SindelfingenSindelfingenSindelfingen is a German town near Stuttgart at the headwaters of the Schwippe that is the site of a Mercedes-Benz assembly plant.-History:* 1155 First documented mention of Sindelfingen...
(part of a major shopping centre called Breuningerland) - StuttgartStuttgartStuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
- Sulzbach (in the Frankfurt Main-Taunus-Zentrum shopping centre)
History
The first Breuninger department store, now referred to as its head office outlet, was established in 1881 by Eduard Breuninger in Stuttgart after taking over the house of E.L. Ostermayer on Marktplatz. Within years Breuninger had extended the shopping area to the upper floors of the building. In 1888 Breuninger moved his premises to a building in nearby Münzstraße but the lack of space forced him to use both houses for selling again.By 1903 the building had to be replaced by larger premises and after a further two rounds of expansion, in 1931 Breuninger was operating on the new site on Marktstraße.
On his death in 1931 the company passed into the hands of Eduard's son, Alfred .
Bombing during the 2nd World War wreaked havoc on all premises owned by the retailer. With the death of Alfred in 1947, the company passed into the 3rd generation. Heinz Breuninger took many years to retutn the retailer to its former glory.
In 1952 the company launched its Breuni bear mascot
Mascot
The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...
which is still used in marketing campaigns today and is a favourite among children.
In the 1960s Breuninger underwent a transition from a purveyor of textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
s to a broader scale department store. The number of customers visiting the store from outside Stuttgart had been declining for years so the retailer expanded its range to adapt to changing demands.
Expansion took a further new turn in the 1970s with new stores outside Stuttgart. The first "Breuningerland", a major multi-store shopping centre also encompassing sublets, was opened in Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg
Ludwigsburg is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about north of Stuttgart city centre, near the river Neckar. It is the largest and primary city of the Ludwigsburg urban district with about 87,000 inhabitants...
to the north of Stuttgart in 1973. In 1980 a second Breuningerland was built in Sindelfingen
Sindelfingen
Sindelfingen is a German town near Stuttgart at the headwaters of the Schwippe that is the site of a Mercedes-Benz assembly plant.-History:* 1155 First documented mention of Sindelfingen...
to the south of Stuttgart. Both sites continue to make a major contribution to company sales.
In the 1970s, the owner at the time, Heinz Breuninger started to groom the newly appointed Willem G. van Agtmael as his successor. Heinz Breuninger died in 1980 at the age of 60 at which point van Agtmael took over at the helm. Van Agtmael forged ahead with expansion plans with the first Breuninger outlets after the fall of the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
and Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
. Nine other outlets have been opened since this time.
Since March 2006 the company has been operating its head office outlet as a flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
store in an attempt to position the shop as a luxury outlet on a par with Harrods of London
Harrods
Harrods is an upmarket department store located in Brompton Road in Brompton, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. The Harrods brand also applies to other enterprises undertaken by the Harrods group of companies including Harrods Bank, Harrods Estates, Harrods Aviation and Air...
.
A number of outlets had to be closed in 2006 due to poor sales, including the store in Würzburg
Würzburg
Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....
. The Breuninger store in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
was subsequently closed down in February 2008.
Store trivia, firsts, criticism
- Breuninger was one of the first German outlets to install lifts and elevatorElevatorAn elevator is a type of vertical transport equipment that efficiently moves people or goods between floors of a building, vessel or other structures...
s in the 1950s. - In 1959 Breuninger was the first German retailer to introduce a loyalty card. The card is still in use today.
- The company was the first retailer in Germany to provide a multi-storey car parkMulti-storey car parkA multi-storey car-park is a building designed specifically to be for car parking and where there are a number of floors or levels on which parking takes place...
, based on trends in America. - Since the 1920s company staff working on the shop floor have been obliged to wear clothing in white, black or grey.
- In late 2006 Breuninger was the target of animal rightsAnimal rightsAnimal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
activists demonstrating against the sale of furs and fashion shows with models wearing fur.