Hülsta-Werke Hüls

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hülsta-werke Hüls GmbH & Co. KG

logo
legal form GmbH & Co. KG
founding 1940
Seat Stadtlohn , Germany
management Executive Director:

Thomas C. Knecht,
Andreas Bremmer

Number of employees 600

(Annual mean 2018)

sales 253.8 million euros (2010)
Branch Furniture industry
Website www.huelsta.com

The Hülsta GmbH & Co. KG is a German furniture manufacturer based in Stadtlohn . The name Hülsta ( original spelling hülsta , hülsta-werke ) is derived from the name of the founding family Hüls and the company headquarters Stadtlohn and is a registered trademark .

The company was founded in 1940 as a craft business in Stadtlohn ( North Rhine-Westphalia ), has been in the same location since then and remained in family ownership until 2019. The product range of the Hülsta-Werke is produced exclusively in western Münsterland and delivered worldwide for distribution in specialist retailers. A supplier industry has developed in the vicinity of the Hüls group of companies.

Hülsta is part of the Hüls group of companies, to which Rolf Benz belonged from 1998 to 2018 . After the Hüls Group ran into economic difficulties from 2014, significant investments (upholstered furniture manufacturer Rolf Benz , bed manufacturer Ruf , parquet manufacturer Parador , bedroom manufacturer Loddenkemper , bed manufacturer Femira ) were sold and the business was concentrated on the core brand Hülsta.

Production and sales

Under the brand names hülsta and now! by hülsta , the Hülsta-Werke design, produce and sell furniture for various furnishing areas and the international market. At the company's headquarters in Stadtlohn there is a 6,000 m² showroom in which the entire product range is presented. Further product exhibitions are in London, Moscow and Shanghai . The company's export focus is on Europe and Asia (mainly China and India ).

history

Alois Hüls opened a carpentry shop in 1940 with ten employees in Stadtlohn in the Münsterland (North Rhine-Westphalia), thus laying the foundation stone for the company. In 1953 Karl Hüls, son of Alois Hüls, joined the company. The Hüls Möbelwerke specialized in the production of bedroom furniture. The brand name hülsta was established in 1959. After studying wood engineering, Karl Hüls took over management of the company in 1960. The hülsta brand was registered at the Munich Patent Office in 1961.

With full-length doors in the Intermat cabinet system , Hülsta replaced the top and base cabinets that had been common up to now in 1962. The hülsta brand was internationally protected in 1964. Hülsta opened a second production facility in Heek (North Rhine-Westphalia, Münsterland). With Hülstamat Hülsta introduced the first bedroom cupboard in cultivation one on the market. In 1965, Hülsta produced the first base frames under the Rumat range . In 1967, Hülsta opened a third production facility in Ottenstein (North Rhine-Westphalia). With Allwand , the company brought the first home furniture program in endless construction with a freely grid front onto the market. The modular system with the Universa living range was created at the same time . The main Hülsta factory moved to the Wenningfeld industrial area in Stadtlohn in 1969 . In 1970, Hülsta launched a range of furniture for young people. Alois Hüls died on April 28, 1970. The first edition of the furnishing book "Exemplary Living" appeared in 1975. In 1983 the company set up a new training center for salespeople and fitters from the furniture trade at the company's headquarters in Stadtlohn. In 1985, according to the Stern brand profiles, Hülsta was the best-known manufacturer of furniture brand in Germany with 58%. In 1986 the company established the residential office segment. Karl Hüls received the Federal Cross of Merit, First Class , in 1987 .

Ludwig Hüls, the third of four sons of Gertrud and Karl Hüls, joined the Hülsta works in 1993 as general technical manager. Under the name now! by hülsta , Hülsta launched its first branded furniture in the take-away segment in 1994. For the first time the company got involved as a co-sponsor of the ATP tennis tournament " Gerry Weber Open " in Halle . In 1998, according to the Stern brand profiles, Hülsta achieved awareness of 49%. In 2000, Hülsta established the soft technology for automatic and quiet closing of drawers and doors. Karl Hüls received the Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2001 and died on October 5th of the same year. With dining room tables and chairs, Hülsta expanded its range in 2002 to include the “food” segment. The Gerhart-Hauptmann-Strasse in Stadtlohn was renamed in 2003 to "Karl-Hüls-Strasse". In 2004, the LGA Bayern was the first and only furniture manufacturer to award the company the “Premium Quality” seal of approval. The company was included in the “Brands of the Century” compendium.

The location initiative “ Germany - Land of Ideas ” under the patronage of Federal President Horst Köhler awarded Hülsta the award “Selected Location 2007”. The furniture manufacturer was one of 365 organizations that were honored for every day of the year and that are supposed to represent innovation and sustainability in Germany.

Due to weak demand, plants were merged in 2008/2009 and part of production was outsourced, including veneer production and cutting, according to company information. As part of this restructuring, supply companies took over previous Hülsta employees. A group's own veneer factory took on the task of several smaller suppliers. Starting from around 1,400 employees, the number of working people halved in about the years 2008 to 2016. The town of Heek lost its largest employer as a result of the restructuring; the previous plant there was demolished in 2019. Subsidiaries such as halco in Coesfeld and Stadtlohn, with long-term employees, went bankrupt without severance payments.

An international print and radio campaign took place in 2010 for the brand's 70th anniversary. The Hüls family is no longer represented in the company's management.

In 2016, the bed supplier Ruf Betten , which had been part of the Hüls Group for 19 years , was sold to Nord Holding, Hanover, which had also previously acquired the parquet manufacturer Parador from the Hüls Group.

In December 2016 , the Federal Cartel Office imposed fines of 4.43 million euros on five German furniture manufacturers for illegal methods of enforcing prices on cheaper furniture dealers . The Hülsta works was also affected by this. Some of the furniture manufacturers have also had their fines reduced because they are financially weak and are going through a reorganization or restructuring process.

In March 2018, the Hüls Group sold the upholstered furniture manufacturer Rolf Benz to the furniture manufacturer Jason Furniture, Hangzhou , China.

Effective October 1, 2018, the bedroom manufacturer Loddenkemper and the bed manufacturer Femira were sold by hülsta-werke Hüls GmbH & Co. KG to Oeseder Möbel-Industrie Mathias Wiemann GmbH & Co. KG , Georgsmarienhütte. In August 2019, Thomas Knecht joined the parent company of the Hüls Group as the largest single shareholder and new chairman of the management board.

marketing

Hülsta invests around 6% of its sales (2009) in advertising and sales promotion . The marketing mix includes furnishing books with lifestyle-oriented design, print campaigns in the form of advertisements and supplements in the national and international public press as well as websites. The company ran two TV campaigns in 2003 and 2006.

The core target group of the hülsta brand are potential buyers aged 40 and over who value durable, timeless furniture in the middle to upper price range. now! by hülsta is primarily aimed at first-time installers between the ages of 28 and 35 when it comes to portable furniture. Both brands have an independent market presence with their own campaigns.

The furniture manufacturer also organizes planning events with specialist dealers. At the company headquarters in Stadtlohn, the "Days of Living" take place, which are aimed at retailers and end consumers . The marketing mix also includes sponsoring activities in the fields of art, music and sport. According to a survey, Hülsta is the best-known manufacturer of furniture brand in Europe (source: GfK , Nuremberg). The level of awareness in the German market was now around 60% and in the premium segment 80% (source: Institut für Demoskopie , Allensbach ).

Corporate Design

The logo of the hülsta brand consists of the words "hülsta" and a stylized H in black on a white background. For now! by hülsta , the “now! by hülsta ”in white on a black background. The brand lettering is set off in lower case , the program names of the conventional Hülsta collection in upper case .

Patents

Hülsta holds over 220 national and international patents for inventions on the furniture market. This includes, for example, the dampened self -closing of drawers based on smooth-running guide rails with Quadro ball bearings , which Hülsta sells under the name “hülsta-SoftFlow”. In 2008, Hülsta registered a patent for a high-gloss lacquer surface that cures in seconds under UV light . The paint technology called EverGloss set a standard in the usability of high-gloss surfaces .

Awards

The Hülsta range has been awarded the Blue Angel and the “Premium Quality” seal of approval from LGA Bavaria . In 1982, eleven products were rated “good” by Stiftung Warentest . Winner were among others 1999, the base frame All Flex, 2006, the Child and Youth Desk Xpert ( "very good") and 2009 mattress Top Point 4000. At the international Red Dot Design Award is Hülsta in the Product Design category in 2017 for the table T70 and in 2019 was awarded the “Winner” for the Solid table . The German Design Council also presented the bathroom furniture collection with the Design Award 2020. Most recently at the Iconic Award, also initiated by the German Design Council, the Neo bed in 2020 and the Navis room divider in 2019 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b huelsta.de
  2. ↑ From the Black Forest: Sofa manufacturer Rolf Benz is sold to the Chinese Report on the website of the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of March 2, 2018, accessed on September 8, 2019
  3. ↑ history. In: hülsta - design furniture made in Germany. Retrieved on February 17, 2020 (German).
  4. ↑ moebelkultur.de ( Memento of the original from December 15, 2015 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.moebelkultur.de
  5. ↑ ihk-nordwestfalen.de ( Memento of the original from December 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ihk-nordwestfalen.de
  6. ↑ Stern: Brand Profiles 9 ( Memento from August 16, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  7. ↑ moebelkultur.de ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2016 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.moebelkultur.de
  8. ↑ moebelkultur.de ( Memento of the original from February 22, 2016 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.moebelkultur.de
  9. ↑ marken-des-jahrhunderts.de
  10. ↑ The core and engine of the economy. ( Memento of the original from December 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. IHK North Rhine-Westphalia, p. 2. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ihk-nordwestfalen.de
  11. ↑ Land of Ideas: Place of the Day. ( Memento of the original from April 10, 2016 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.land-der-ideen.de
  12. ↑ moebelkultur.de  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.moebelkultur.de  
  13. ↑ Hülsta has ambitious plans ; RuhrNachrichten.de, accessed on February 17, 2020.
  14. ↑ Hülsta plant in Heek is almost completely in ruins , MuensterlandZeitung.de, accessed on February 17, 2020.
  15. ↑ Allgemeine Zeitung Coesfeld: Five million euros for Schalke and nothing for us , Sat., May 9, 2020, Book Coesfeld, saved as a memento on May 10, 2010
  16. ↑ Call: The details of the sales report from September 30, 2016 on the Möbelkultur.de industry portal, accessed on September 7, 2019.
  17. ↑ Case report of the Federal Cartel Office of January 11, 2017 - fines for vertical price fixing in the sale of furniture. (PDF) Bundeskartellamt , January 11, 2017, accessed on January 15, 2017 .
  18. ↑ Hüls Group confirms sale: Sale of luxury furniture manufacturer Rolf Benz to the Chinese annoys the competition. In: Handelsblatt on March 2, 2018 ( handelsblatt.com , accessed on September 8, 2019).
  19. ↑ Wiemann: Signs purchase contract for Loddenkemper and Femira Report on the industry portal Möbelmarkt.de from September 14, 2018, accessed on September 8, 2019.
  20. ↑ Hüls Group: Investor rises to the Hülsta owner a report on August 14, 2019 on the industry portal Moebelmarkt.de, accessed on September 8, 2019.
  21. ↑ huelsta.de
  22. ↑ patent-de.com
  23. ↑ Stiftung Warentest: Schoolchildren's desks: The most expensive one is poor. In: test. 06/2006.
  24. ↑ Stiftung Warentest: Mattresses: 232 mattresses tested. on: test.de , October 25, 2012.