Gütermann

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A&E Gütermann

logo
legal form GmbH
founding 1864
Seat Gutach im Breisgau , Germany
management Christopher R. Alt, Kristen H. Hughes, Jürgen Drescher
Number of employees 380
sales EUR 68.8 million
Branch Textile industry
Website www.guetermann.de
Status: September 2019

The Gütermann GmbH (public image A & E Gütermann ), headquartered in South Baden Gutach is a traditional and globally operating Nähfadenhersteller . The company was in 1864 by Max Gütermann founded and introduced once the largest sewing thread in the world. The company is now part of the US Elevate Textiles, Inc .

The operative business is divided into the Consumer and Industry divisions . In the Industry division , A&E Gütermann is the sewing thread specialist. Individual apparel and non-apparel solutions are developed together with customers . In the Consumer division , A&E Gütermann focuses on the end consumer with its sewing threads and complementary products such as pearls, fabrics and various haberdashery items.

history

Company founder Max Gütermann was born on October 12, 1828 in Redwitz an der Rodach in Upper Franconia and died on August 30, 1895 in Gutach im Breisgau. Until 1864 he worked as an employee in a silk trading house in Vienna , one of the largest trading centers for silk goods at the time . Since sewing silk was mainly produced in northern Italy at that time, Gütermann went into business for himself in 1864 and looked for a convenient location for his own production facility.

European headquarters in Gutach (Breisgau)

In 1866 Gütermann first rented a mill in Fridau near Vienna, where he and a few employees set up a small factory, before finally finding what he was looking for in the southern Baden village of Gutach im Breisgau . He saw a great locational advantage there in the clear and soft water of the Elz , which was particularly suitable for dyeing sewing silk. In 1867 the Gütermann & Co. sewing silk factory was started with 30 workers.

Advertising poster around 1890

From 1873 onwards, Gütermann no longer offered its sewing silk according to weight, as was customary until then, but according to length units. He brought about the elevation of the metric designation for the thread size to the standard, which was only replaced by the international Tex system in 1969 .

Ideal silk label

This conversion of the sales unit from weight to length met with little understanding from the competition, because up until then the sewing silk was often weighted with metal powder in order to make the yarn with the higher weight appear more affordable. The consumers, on the other hand, appreciated this methodology and expressed ever greater confidence in “Gütermann's sewing silk”. The conversion finally received special attention because Gütermann made it public at the world exhibition in Vienna .

Gütermann also had a major impact on the way in which the sewing thread was placed on the market. While until then only skeins, wooden spools or wrapped flat cardboard cards were on the market and marked with incomprehensible dimensions and weight units, Gütermann introduced the revolutionary cross-winding on cardboard tubes, which eventually became standard for all sewing thread manufacturers.

At the turn of the century, the company's production grew so rapidly that guest workers were recruited from Italy . Gütermann then built company apartments for the workers on what was then the outskirts of Gutach.

In 1923/24, the Zweribachwerk , one of the first pumped storage power stations in Germany, was built for the textile works according to plans by the Karlsruhe architect Hermann Alker .

Retail sewing threads

Soon after Hitler came to power in 1933, the company owners applied for membership in the NSDAP , which they immediately obtained. With this they aimed for the privilege of producing the sewing silk for SA uniforms , as this promised high sales. Due to Jewish roots in parts of the previous generation , the Gütermanns were classified as first-degree mixed race despite their Protestant religious affiliation and had to leave the NSDAP. The family was not harassed or persecuted until the end of the war.

In 1935 the company developed the "Gütermann-SVK" (quick sale box) for which a patent was pending. With this, the thread rolls were offered openly to the consumer, while the bobbins previously had to be stored in drawers or in cupboards and laid out individually. This form of product presentation has also been adopted by competitors in the industry.

After 1945 the development of man-made fibers began and challenged Gütermann to create a high-quality sewing thread from the new synthetic fibers. Gütermann developed the long- fiber- spun polyester sewing thread, which succeeded Gütermann sewing silk and which surpasses this product in several quality criteria. This relocation enabled the company to firmly establish itself in the European clothing and technical textile industries . Around 10% of sales are currently generated with technical sewing threads, such as B. for the automotive industry achieved.

The first published in 1961 its own magazine "Die seam", with which practical information on sewing applications as well as suggested solutions for problems in the sewing area was made available to a wide range of customers, was just as an innovation of the company as the plastic spool with thread storage developed in the mid-1960s which led to greater order in the consumer's sewing basket. In this way, Gütermann managed to continue to position itself as a strong brand in traditional retail.

In 1971, the company put Europe's most modern computer-controlled dye works into operation and in 1995 became known as a supplier of a total of 1,300 kilometers of Gütermann Tera 10 thread for the Reichstag wrapping by the two artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude .

In 1999 the company, together with the handicraft supplies manufacturer KnorrPrandell GmbH, based in Lichtenfels, bought the world's largest wholesaler for handicraft and decoration supplies as well as the Bastel Service AG in Niederwangen near Bern and introduced the pearls and sequins product line (both subsidiaries were sold to the Dutch Wagram Equity Partners in 2010 which she later bundled with her participation Kars & Co. to form the Creative Hobbies Group).

In 2001 the operational business of the silk and cotton twining mill Zwicky & Co. in Wallisellen (Canton Zurich, Switzerland) was taken over.

In 2008, another production site was opened in India , making the company one of the leading sewing thread manufacturers in Asia. Production there includes the dyeing and winding of the threads intended for the Asian market.

After the expansion to India and in the wake of the financial crisis , however, business developed worse than expected. In 2008, massive jobs had to be cut at the Gutach site, from around 500 by around 150 to 200. Gütermann also sold numerous properties in the Gutach community. However, the company was able to recover successfully in the following years.

In 2014 Gütermann was taken over by the American company American & Efird LLC (A&E). The A&E Gütermann group of companies today emerged from this merger .

Production sites

Company premises Gutach (Breisgau)

In addition to its headquarters in Gutach, A&E Gütermann operates several production sites around the world with a total of around 1095 employees:

The export share of sales is approx. 80%. The company is also represented as a leading international manufacturer of premium sewing threads with 51 subsidiaries and representative offices in over 80 countries.

Managing directors

From the founding in 1864 to 1884, Max Gütermann was sole chairman of the management.

The second generation came in 1884 with the five sons Carl, Julius, Alexander Ludwig and Rudolf in the family one. Under her leadership, the range of social benefits for the workforce was expanded in particular . The Gütermanns built numerous company apartments , a company canteen, a company kindergarten and their own hospital for the workforce in Gutach . They also introduced a company health insurance fund and a bonus system in the company. In addition, a music and a football club were founded.

In the third generation, between 1908 and 1933, eleven grandchildren of the company founder and two married men took up management positions in Gutach, Vienna and Perosa. Under the chairmanship of grandson Richard C. Gütermann, the company successfully overcame the arduous times of National Socialism and the Second World War.

The fourth generation of Gütermanns joined the company in the 1950s and 1960s. Nine descendants and three married couples took on managerial positions in Gutach, Perosa, Sao-Paulo, Vienna, Paris and Zurich. The company was managed by Dietrich Gütermann in Switzerland and Horst, Alex and Peter Gütermann and Bernhard Kraske, who headed the Gutach headquarters for many years under the chairmanship of Horst, then Alex and later Peter Gütermann. In 2002 Horst and Alex Gütermann were made honorary citizens of the Gutach community.

After the turn of the millennium and the takeover of Zwicky & Co., the management board consisted of Peter Zwicky, Clemens Gütermann and Roland Hämmerle. After Clemens Gütermann and Roland Hämmerle left, Peter Zwicky was the sole director of Gütermann from 2009 to 2016. This made him the first CEO in Gütermann's history who did not come from the Gütermann family who owned it. At the end of March 2016, Peter Zwicky retired. Jürgen Drescher (formerly Head of Business Development & Production) has been responsible for the business of Gütermann Europe & Oceania as Managing Director of A&E Gütermann Europe since April 2016.

owner

Until 2014, the company was fully owned by the widespread Gütermann family for 150 years. In 2004, 80 family members held shares in the group of companies , according to Manager Magazin . The operative business has been run as a GmbH since January 1, 2010, the parent company of the group of companies was Gütermann Holding SE.

On April 23, 2014 Gütermann Holding SE signed an agreement for the sale of the group of companies to the largest US American and the world's second largest sewing and industrial thread manufacturer American & Efird LLC (A&E), based in Mount Holly , North Carolina . The shareholders' meeting in June 2014 approved the sale to A&E almost entirely. A&E itself was owned by the New York investment fund KPS Capital Partners from 2011 to 2018. A&E has been owned by the Californian investment fund Platinum Equity since 2018 .

literature

  • Alexandra Gütermann: The Gütermanns - A family story: Max, Sophie and their children - The first and second generation. 2., revised. Ed., Gütermann, Gutach 2011, ISBN 978-3-00-035670-4 .
  • Florian Langenscheidt , Bernd Venohr (Hrsg.): Lexicon of the German world market leaders. The premier class of German companies in words and pictures. German Standards Editions, Cologne 2010, ISBN 978-3-86936-221-2 .

Web links

Commons : Gütermann  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Gütermann GmbH, annual financial statements for the FY 01.10.2017 - 30.09.2018 in the electronic Federal Gazette
  2. ↑ manager magazin: Gütermann: The threads for Brioni - manager magazin - company. Retrieved August 15, 2020 .
  3. ^ Textile Company | Global Textile Company - Elevate Textiles. Retrieved April 20, 2020 (American English).
  4. ↑ Gütermann. November 14, 2018, accessed December 14, 2018 .
  5. ^ Badische Zeitung , December 30, 2010.
  6. ↑ a b Oliver Rathkolb: So, he did it. Herbert von Karajan died 30 years ago. Only now is it clear that he was only able to make his career under National Socialism because of his wife Anita Gütermann. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung, No. 162, July 16, 2019, p. 9
  7. ↑ Gütermann. November 14, 2018, accessed December 14, 2018 .
  8. ↑ Gütermann. November 14, 2018, accessed December 14, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Milestones Zwicky | A&E Gütermann. Retrieved May 10, 2020 .
  10. ^ Badische Zeitung , November 4, 2008.
  11. ↑ A&E AGREES TO ACQUIRE GÜTERMANN amefird.com, accessed on April 13, 2018
  12. ^ The Gütermann era l A&E Gütermann. Retrieved October 16, 2019 .
  13. ^ The Gütermann era l A&E Gütermann. Retrieved October 16, 2019 .
  14. ^ The Gütermann era l A&E Gütermann. Retrieved October 16, 2019 .
  15. ^ The Gütermann era l A&E Gütermann. Retrieved October 16, 2019 .
  16. ↑ By a thread. Retrieved December 14, 2018 .
  17. ^ Gutach: Yarn manufacturer Gütermann sold to US competitor , badische-zeitung.de, June 16, 2014.
  18. ^ Yarn manufacturer: Gutach: US company wants to buy Gütermann , badische-zeitung.de, April 25, 2014.


Coordinates: 48 ° 6 ′ 48.6 ″  N , 7 ° 58 ′ 56.7 ″  E