Kago
| Kago Warming Systems GmbH
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| legal form | GmbH |
| founding | 1971/2010 |
| resolution | 2016 |
| Reason for dissolution | insolvency |
| Seat | Neumarkt idOPf. , |
| management | Managing director: Peter Beyer |
| Number of employees | approx. 200 (11/2011) |
| Branch | Tiled stove and air heating construction, fireplace, solar, house chimney construction, pellet stoves, pellet heating systems, fireplace stoves |
| Website | www.kago.de |
The Kago heat GmbH was a German company based in Neumarkt in the Upper Palatinate . The company manufactured fireplaces, fireplace stoves , tiled stoves , chimneys and solar systems as well as pellet stoves and pellet heating systems . Production ceased in 2016.
history
In 1968 the bricklayer Karl-Heinz Gonschorowski fled from the GDR to the Federal Republic of Germany and founded a company there. When the company was founded in 1972, the workforce consisted only of the company founder and one other person. Gonschorowski took his company name "Kago" shortly afterwards as a family name.
In 1979 the company developed a kit for tiled stoves, making it the first German kit manufacturer for this product group. In 1982 an own fireplace factory was opened. In 1984 the company opened its own factory for stove tiles at the Schwarzenfeld site near Amberg. For the construction of the largest tiled stove in the world in 1986, Kago got an entry in the Guinness Book of Records . After German reunification in 1991, Kago expanded its business operations to the new federal states and increased the workforce to around 1,200 employees. In 1997 Kago received an entry in the “Europe's 500” list, which annually ranks European companies using the David Birch Employee Growth Index (“Birch Index” for short, an important criterion is the relative and absolute creation of jobs).
In 1999 the 100,000. Kago oven delivered. In 2002 sales were expanded to include DIY chains and expansion into other European countries began. In 2005 an own factory for the production of firewood was put into operation, which was the largest firewood factory in Germany when it opened. According to a study by the Society for Consumer Research from March 2006, Kago was the best-known stove manufacturer in Germany at the time of the survey. In 2006 Kago started its own production of cast iron heating inserts. In 2006, the Bavarian state government presented the Kago company with the Bavarian Best 50 award for above-average growth in employees and sales. In 2006, 30-year-old lawyer Pierre Kago joined the management team at Kago. By 2007, around 250,000 living room chimneys, chimney stoves and tiled stoves were produced and sold, as well as the construction and complete renovation of around 250,000 chimneys. The company employed around 1,500 people in five plants. It had 80 of its own exhibition centers and 70 separate specialist exhibitions. The sale was handled through over 200 resellers and around 1,000 agencies. Due to the poor business development in 2007, around 120 employees were laid off and the loss-making heating business was discontinued. In 2008 Kago invested in the Postbauer-Heng location and created 10% new jobs.
The Kago-Röhl Ofenkachelfabrik GmbH in Schwarzenfeld near Schwandorf, which belongs to the Kago group of companies, went bankrupt in 2010. On February 15, 2010, the entire group of companies filed for bankruptcy . On April 28, 2010 the insolvency proceedings against the company Kago were opened. Volker Böhm was appointed as insolvency administrator by the law firm Schultze & Braun .
On July 1, 2010, the KAGO brand was bought by Carsten Micheel-Sprenger and Peter Leibold and continued as a new company under a changed company name while retaining the brand name Kago. At that time Leibold was managing director of German Pellets , one of the largest producers of wood pellets in Europe according to his own statements . According to Leibold, the decisive factors for the purchase were the brand presence and the know-how of the traditional stove manufacturer, with the aim of increasing sales of pellet firing systems. Micheel-Sprenger was initially responsible for the newly founded Kago Wärmesysteme GmbH as managing director. In December 2010 Micheel-Sprenger resigned as managing director. As of March 2014, Peter Beyer was the sole managing director.
In September 2011 the first “new generation” store opened in Augsburg. With Mülheim-Kärlich, the second “Kago Warm Worlds” followed in 2012. The Kago Wärmesysteme GmbH operated (status: 08/2012) 23 stores throughout Germany. In addition to the classic fireplace and tiled stoves, pellet stoves and pellet heating systems were added to the product range. Kago Wärmesysteme GmbH has been certified as a pellet heating company by the German Pellet Institute (DEPI).
In the summer of 2012, Kago moved the company headquarters including sales and order management to Dr.-Otto-Schedl-Strasse in Neumarkt. In Postbauer-Heng, the customer center, production and spare parts service & online shop continued to exist.
Cessation of business operations
On January 22, 2016, preliminary insolvency proceedings were opened at the Nuremberg District Court. On January 29, 2016, the insolvency administrator Volker Böhm announced that business operations could not be resumed.
Four season energy concept
In 2008, Kago launched the four-season energy concept . It was a concept to combine the chimneys and a solar system with the heating in order to use the renewable energy sources wood and sun. Water-bearing heating chimneys are connected to the heating circuit of the house so that the heat generated in the chimney can be used throughout the house. In a multi-function storage tank , this heat (together with the solar heat that is stored on the roof via collectors ) is returned to the heating circuit via two water circuits. This energy is used to heat the domestic water (for the bathroom, shower) and the heating water (for the heaters).
If this system is connected to an existing heating system , it is ensured that the water temperature is always guaranteed, even if not enough heat is stored via the solar collectors or the fireplace. An energy regulator monitors the temperature in the multifunction memory and starts the regular heating if necessary. The solar collectors have been classified by the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA) as eligible for funding in accordance with the guidelines of the Ministry of the Environment. A pellet heating system completed the 4-season energy-saving concept.
social commitment
Karl-Heinz Kago financed the redesign of the market square in Postbauer-Heng. The company attached great importance to the fact that production was generally only carried out at locations in Germany.
criticism
The company was accused in 2006 of using trigger methods . The criticism of Kago's sales methods later became more moderate, which may, however, also be attributed to legal pressure on critics.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from June 8, 2012 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.
- ↑ FTD: The Crash of a Sun King March 10, 2010
- ↑ a b http://www.br-online.de/studio-franken/aktuelles-aus-franken/neumarkt-rettung-2010-kw25-ID1277472016928.xml?_requestid=66404 ( 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.
- ↑ http://www.german-pellets.de/de/pellet-news/aktuelles-presse-detail/article/pelletproduzent-uebernnahm-kago.html ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was created automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from June 8, 2012 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.
- ↑ http://www.nordbayern.de/region/neumarkt/beim-neuen-kago-rauch-der-schlot-wieder-1.2658700 "The chimney is smoking again"
- ^ At Kago the oven is out , br.de of January 29, 2016
- ↑ http://schubra.de/de/presseservice/pressemitteilungen/KAGO_Waermesysteme_pm20160129.php
- ↑ Market Incentive Program 2008, status 06/2008
- ↑ Portrait: The stove manufacturer on faz.net, November 2, 2006
- ↑ Archived copy ( memento of July 22, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) on sueddeutsche.de of January 3, 2009
Coordinates: 49 ° 18 ′ 11.4 " N , 11 ° 21 ′ 41.4" E