Adolf Ahlers AG

Last updated
Ahlers AG
ISIN DE0005009740
Website ahlers-ag.com
Ahlers in Herford-Elverdissen Ahlers Herford.jpg
Ahlers in Herford-Elverdissen

Ahlers AG was a listed manufacturer of men's fashion. The company was headquartered in Herford-Elverdissen.

Contents

History

Historisches Logo Ahlers AG logo.svg
Historisches Logo

Ahlers was founded in 1919 by Adolf Ahlers in Jever as a cloth wholesaler. After moving to Oldenburg i.O. in 1925, a production plant was opened in Herford-Elverdissen in 1932 and the headquarters were relocated there.

Nazi era

An underwear factory was built in Herford in 1936. During the period of "Aryanizations" in 1938, Adolf Ahlers took over the operations of Elsbach in Herford, the largest textile company in Europe at the time. The Jewish Elsbach family was forced to sell the shares in their company to Ahlers for far less than they were worth. The former managing director, Kurt Elsbach, sought refuge from the Nazis abroad. [1] [2] [3] The company was renamed "Herforder Wäschefabriken AG" by Ahlers. [4]

Postwar

The former managing director Kurt Elsbach, who had fled abroad, returned to the company in 1947, but died in 1954. [2] From 1952, the company was again called "Elsbach Wäschefabriken AG". The shares were returned to the Elsbach family. Ahlers remained a shareholder, acquired the entire company in 1964 and converted it into a limited liability company. Jan A. Ahlers, son of the company founder, took over the management from his father Adolf Ahlers in 1968 and expanded the company into an internationally active group. In 1979, the company's own production facility was relocated to Sri Lanka. [5] In 1987, Jan A. Ahlers floated the company on the stock exchange. Stella A. Ahlers, the founder's granddaughter, has managed the company since 2005.

Bankruptcy and takeover

Elsbach Denim Library Norderney Elsbach Denim Library Norderney .jpg
Elsbach Denim Library Norderney

In April 2023, Ahlers AG filed for insolvency proceedings for itself and some of its subsidiaries. [6] In mid-June, the Röther Group announced that it would take over the Pierre Cardin, Baldessarini, Pioneer Jeans and Pionier workwear brands and that around 300 jobs would be lost. [7] Röther closed all Ahlers stores and the brands' online stores. The management subsequently announced that the brands would be bundled and continued in a new holding company called R. Brand Group within Röther. The takeover was completed in August 2023. [8]

Brands

Ahlers sold clothing from five brands for different target groups and price segments. The company held licenses for these brands and owned the other brands:

Former brands

Distribution

At the end of November 2021, Ahlers operated a total of 115 retail stores, 23 of which were operated by the company itself. Partners operated a total of 92 stores as of November 30, 2021, mainly in Eastern Europe. The Pierre Cardin and Baldessarini brands are also sold via the company's own online stores. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Borgward</span> German automobile manufacturer

The former Borgward car manufacturing company, based in Bremen, Germany, was founded by Carl F. W. Borgward (1890–1963). It produced cars of four brands, which were sold to a diversified international customer base: Borgward, Hansa, Goliath and Lloyd. Borgward's Isabella was one of the most popular German premium models in the 1950s, while Lloyd's Alexander / Lloyd 600 model offered affordable mobility to many working-class motorists. The group ceased operations in 1961, following controversial insolvency proceedings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metro AG</span> German multinational wholesaling company

Metro AG is a German multinational company based in Düsseldorf which operates business membership-only cash and carry stores primarily under the Metro brand. Until 2020, it was also active in the general retail business through the Real division, which was sold to an investor consortium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tchibo</span> German coffee retailer

Tchibo is a German chain of coffee retailers and cafés known for its range of non-coffee products that change weekly. The latter includes: clothing, furniture, household items, electronics and electrical appliances. In Germany, Tchibo's slogan is "Every week a new world". Tchibo has further expanded its product range to sell services such as travel, insurance, and mobile-phone contracts.

ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE is a German mass media & digital company. It operates in three segments: Entertainment, Dating and Commerce & Ventures. The company is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karstadt</span> German department store chain

Karstadt Warenhaus GmbH was a German department store chain whose headquarters were in Essen. Until 30 September 2010 the company was a subsidiary of Arcandor AG and was responsible within the group for the business segment of over-the-counter retail.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Praktiker</span> German defunct hardware store chain

Praktiker AG was a German hardware store chain which operated in Europe. It was based in Hamburg and opened its first store in 1978 in Luxembourg under the name bâtiself. Initially owned by ASKO, the chain became a division of Metro AG after the merger of ASKO with Metro Cash & Carry in 1995. It was spun off under the name Praktiker Holding in November 2005 and listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Since 2006 until 2011 was listed on MDAX and since 2011 until 2013 on SDAX.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Körber</span>

Körber AG is a strategic management holding company based in Hamburg. In 2022, the group had more than 12,700 employees at more than 100 locations worldwide and generated sales of €2.53 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1&1 AG</span> German telecommunication service

1&1 AG is a German telecommunications service provider headquartered in Montabaur, Rhineland-Palatinate and listed on the TecDAX. Since 2017, the majority of the company has belonged to United Internet, and offers both mobile and landline services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Certina Holding</span>

Certina Holding AG is a holding company for niche manufacturers, specialised construction and IT companies with its headquarters in Grünwald near Munich in Germany, growing organically and through acquisitions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hermann Wronker AG</span> Store chain

Hermann Wronker AG was a German department store chain. Its holdings included the largest department store in Frankfurt before World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frosta AG</span>

Frosta Aktiengesellschaft is a frozen food company headquartered in Bremerhaven, Bremen, Germany. The corporation owns production facilities in Germany and Poland, with sales and distribution subsidiaries in the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Romania. It had 1709 employees and revenues of Euro 501 million in 2017. FRoSTA is the market leader for frozen food in Germany and one of the largest in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Werner Klein</span> German entrepreneur

Werner Klein (born 25 January 1950 in Burbach is a German entrepreneur, investor and former racing driver residing in Switzerland.

Hanro International GmbH, with headquarters in Götzis in Austria, produces lingerie, nightwear, and loungewear for men and women. The company’s products can be found in almost 50 countries and are sold at specialty retailers, department stores, and its own 14 boutiques and outlet stores. The company was founded in 1884 in Liestal, Switzerland, by Albert Handschin. The Huber Group acquired the company in 1991.

Momox AG is a Berlin-based recommerce site for used books and media founded by Christian Wegner in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loeser & Wolff</span> German tobacco company

Loeser & Wolff was a large German tobacco goods factory and trade in Berlin that was Aryanized by the Nazis because its owners were Jewish. It manufactured, imported and distributed cigars in particular. It was at times the largest cigar factory in Europe and a Jewish company until its Aryanization in 1937.

In the first half of the 20th century, the Munich art dealer Julius Böhler was one of the largest and most important art dealers in the German-speaking world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter's Chocolate</span> Swiss chocolate brand

Peter's Chocolate was a Swiss chocolate producer founded in 1867 by Daniel Peter in Vevey. It is notably the company who produced the first successful milk chocolate bar. It merged with Kohler in 1904, with Cailler in 1911, and was bought by Nestlé in 1929. The brand was purchased by Cargill in 2002. Peter's Chocolate was recurrently advertised with the image of a traditionally dressed man waving a chocolate bar, often with an Alpine scenery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hipp Holding</span>

Hipp Holding is a Swiss manufacturer of baby food and personal care products for babies based in Sachseln. The German company headquarters are in Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm in Upper Bavaria. This is also the origin and seat of the German main factory, which was founded in 1932.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elsbach & Frank</span> Former department store in Hanover, Lower Saxony

Elsbach & Frank was a textile retail business founded in the 19th century in Hanover, the capital of Lower Saxony, Germany. The department store built by this company on the corner of Osterstraße and Große Packhofstraße, called Kaufhaus zum Stern, is the only building in the city center that survived the air raids on Hanover during the Second World War without major damage. Today, the building is used by a branch of the Spanish fashion chain Zara.

Elsbach was a textile industry company that existed from 1873 until the 1990s in the East Westphalian town of Herford in North Rhine-Westphalia. Before the First World War, it was considered the largest European underwear factory.

References

  1. Laue, Christoph. "Zwischen „Arisierung" und „Wiedergutmachung" Die Herforder Elsbach AG zwischen 1938 und 1951" (PDF).
  2. 1 2 "Serie / Orte jüdischen Lebens in Herford / Das Schicksal der Familie Elsbach / Teil 9: Zwei Brüder gründeten in Herford die größte Wäschefabrik Europas WWW.HIERGEBLIEBEN.DE". www.hiergeblieben.de. Retrieved 2023-11-11. In der Zeit der nationalsozialistischen Diktatur wurde die Familie zunehmend schikaniert, immer weniger Kunden fanden den Weg zum Elsbach-Unternehmen. Die jüdische Eigentümer-Familie musste ihre Anteile an der Firma 1938 verkaufen, der Betrieb wurde von Adolf Ahlers übernommen. Der frühere Chef Kurt Elsbach konnte fliehen, seine Schwester Käte Maass, geborene Elsbach, wurde zusammen mit ihrem Mann im Konzentrationslager (KZ) ermordet. Nach Ende des Zweiten Weltkrieges wurde Kurt Elsbach wieder in die Geschäftsleitung der Firma aufgenommen, er starb jedoch im Jahr 1954. Die erstatteten Anteile an der Firma wurden an Ahlers verkauft.
  3. "Tafel Elsbach seit 2009" (PDF).
  4. Kiel-Steinkamp, Jobst Lüdeking,Frank-Michael. "Die Ahlers AG in Herford: Das Ende eines Familienunternehmens". Neue Westfälische (in German). Retrieved 2023-11-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. "Das Elsbach Haus". www.elsbach-haus.de (in German). Retrieved 2023-11-11.
  6. Hielscher, Henryk (2023-04-24). "Baldessarini, Pierre Cardin, Otto Kern: Nächster Modehersteller meldet Insolvenz an". www.wiwo.de (in German). Retrieved 2023-11-11.
  7. "Modehändler Röther übernimmt Modehersteller Ahlers". tagesschau.de (in German). Retrieved 2023-11-11.
  8. DE, FashionNetwork com. "Ahlers AG wird zur R. Brand Group". FashionNetwork.com (in German). Retrieved 2023-11-11.
  9. "Luxusmarke an Ahlers verkauft: Baldessarini reicht Baldessarini postwendend weiter - Handelsblatt". www.handelsblatt.com. Retrieved 2023-11-11.
  10. "Hemdenmarke eterna verkauft". Hamburger Abendblatt. 2006-06-02. Retrieved 2023-06-28.
  11. "Ahlers AG: Startseite". www.ahlers-ag.com. Retrieved 2023-11-14.

Sources

52.08258.6533333333333Koordinaten: 52° 4′ 57″ N, 8° 39′ 12″ O