Au Bon Marché
ABM was a Swiss company in the retail trade . The company, founded in 1956, belonged to the Swiss department store group Globus . The abbreviation ABM stood for “Au Bon Marché” (translated into German: at a reasonable price).
history
In 1956 the first ABM branch was opened in Bern . In the best of times, ABM operated around 60 department stores in Switzerland and generated sales of almost 700 million Swiss francs . Between 1976 and 1996 ABM also operated branches in Austria. In 1996 the Austrian branches were closed. In the 1990s, the company was in the red after numerous wrong business decisions and reorganizations. In 2000/2001 30 branches were converted into Oviesse branches. The Globus Group ran these shops independently as a franchisee. In 2004 the company announced the exit. 24 locations and 230 employees were taken over by the C&A group.
The ABM range consisted of inexpensive, but high-quality products, mainly from the clothing and household sectors . From 1970 furniture was also sold in individual branches .
ABM was significantly shaped by Georges Cavelti (1925–2019), who headed the company between 1963 and 1989. Cavelti was already employed as a textile buyer when ABM started business.
ABM had often taken on a pioneering role in retail. B. early on self-service and computer science.
ABM was pioneering in terms of advertising and product labeling, for which Ernst + Ursula Hiestand and the specific poet Eugen Gomringer were responsible for over 30 years .
literature
- Werner Catrina among others: ABM. Success story of a department store chain. Philosophy Strategy Design 1956–1989 . Orell Füssli, Zurich 2005, ISBN 3-280-05129-0 . Download from the author's website.
Web links
- Video: Oral history for ABM advertising with Eugen Gomringer , Ernst and Ursula Hiestand , Zurich 2016.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Daniel Meier: Not cheap, but inexpensive. Obituary, NZZ am Sunday , November 10, 2019, p. 25.