Big Star (jeans brand)
Big Star is an internationally known jeans and denim brand that was launched in 1974 in Basel , Switzerland . In the course of time, licenses for the brand name had been granted for various countries and markets . Since the Swiss company's insolvency in 2005, the rights to the Big Star name have been held by different companies around the world, all of which operate independently of one another and on separate markets, including the Polish Big Star Limited Sp. Z oo and the US Big Star Clothing, Inc.
Brand history
In 1974, the Basel twin brothers Edwin and Laurin Faeh (* 1947), the latter a trained auto mechanic, developed the jeans brand Big Star with their older brother Walter. In a rented shop in Basel, trousers and jeans bought at flea markets were initially prepared and resold. In 1978 the Faehs bought a textile factory in Soultz-Haut-Rhin and opened Big Star stores in Switzerland and France. Big Star Jeans GmbH, located in Weil am Rhein in 1981 , was part of the Big Star holding company . At the beginning of the 1980s there were already 20 Big Star sales outlets with a turnover of 20 million SFr. generated. A Big Star plant was built in Issenheim . Walter Faeh had meanwhile left the company. In the Netherlands and France, Big Star initially operated under the name Gap Star . Due to the similarity of the name with Gap Inc. Gap Star (1989-93) had to go to a trademark litigation out of the way to rename. The later G-Star brand emerged from this name formation .
From 1990 Big Star clothing was also produced in Tunisia and Taiwan. In 1992, the company went as Big Star Holding AG on the stock exchange . Laurin Faeh handed over the operative business to a management team under pressure from the Swiss holding company , which had been involved in the company for the purpose of the IPO . Edwin Faeh left the company in 1994. His textile trading company Work in Progress obtained a license from the American workwear manufacturer Carhartt in the same year and developed its own youthful, fashionable sportswear collection for the European market under the same brand name from the end of the 1990s. In the 1990s, Big Star was one of the largest jeans companies in Europe and offered fashionable jeans and casual wear for women, men and children in over 30 countries.
In the late 1990s, the company ran into financial difficulties. In 1994, a trademark license was granted to Polish contractual partners, who in 1995 secured the majority of the trademark rights for Poland and other Eastern European sales markets. Laurin Faeh left Big Star Holding AG in 1998 to return as CEO in 2001 . He and his Japanese business partner Shuji Tsunemi, owner of the jeans manufacturer Edwin Trading Company , bought back the majority of the shares in Big Star through the joint venture Tsufa AG founded in 2000 . Big Star also held the European license for Edwin Jeans . After losses in the late 1990s, Big Star Holding AG generated sales of CHF 108 million in 2001 on the sales markets of Switzerland, Germany, France and the Netherlands. with an EBIT of 5.7 million SFr.
In mid-2004, Big Star Holding AG filed for bankruptcy . In 2005, the Turkish Eroglu Group bought the company and the Big Star brand and relocated the company headquarters to Düsseldorf. Eroglu sold Big Star and with it the trademark rights for the European market at the beginning of 2008 to the Polish licensee, who previously owned the trademark rights for Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. There was also another Turkish licensee who had Eroglu judicially forbid the use of the Big Star brand name in Turkey. In the summer of 2008, franchise stores were opened in East Germany by the Polish Big Star Limited Sp. Z oo. At the end of the 2000s, the new Polish management opened an online shop for Germany and Switzerland as well as big star stores in Berlin on Alexanderplatz , Cologne (relocated to Rheinpark-Center , Neuss ), Düsseldorf (now closed) and Leipzig. As of 2014, there were also Big Star stores in Donauwörth and Ingolstadt in Germany as well as numerous Kress / Maratex stores in Saxony that carry the Big Star collections. One outlet was preserved in Weil am Rhein, and there is another in Soltau . In large parts of Germany, the brand is almost not represented.
Big Star is the market leader among jeans brands in Poland. Big Star Ltd. operates over 260 shops in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Germany, Hungary, the Ukraine, Belarus, Tunisia and Lebanon. The license for North America has been held by Big Star Clothing, Inc., California , based in South Gate , since the 1990s . The company sells denim and leisurewear for women and men through American retailers.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Perplex, many look out of their laundry , onlinereports.ch, February 5, 1992
- ↑ The “battle” has been fought ( memento of the original dated February 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Handelszeitung via pme.ch, June 14, 2000
- ↑ Tsufa AG wants to take over a majority in Big Star , swissinfo.ch, March 26, 2000
- ↑ Fashion show for self-help ( memento of the original from February 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Handelszeitung via pme.ch, November 26, 2002
- ↑ # 93; = 182971 Jeans retailer Big Star is insolvent ( memento of the original dated November 26, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , textilwirtschaft.de, June 17, 2004
- ↑ Big Star - Poland takes over European trademark rights ( Memento of the original from February 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , textilwirtschaft.de, August 31, 2007
- ↑ Eroglu Group to sell Big Star brand , sportswearnet.com, September 3, 2007
- ↑ Big Star opens its first franchise stores ( Memento of the original from February 1, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , textilwirtschaft.de, July 24, 2008
- ↑ Big Star is back , badische-zeitung.de, December 4, 2010
- ↑ Company - Big Star Limited ( Memento of the original dated February 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , bigstar.pl, accessed: January 25, 2014
