Kastner & Öhler

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Kastner & Öhler AG

logo
legal form Corporation
founding 1890
Seat Graz , AustriaAustriaAustria 
management Thomas Böck, Martin Wäg, Andreas Zinschitz, Alexander Petrskovsky
Number of employees 1,760
sales 208.7 million euros
Branch Department store chain
Website www.kastner-oehler.at
As of February 28, 2014

Kastner and Öhler on Sackstrasse in Graz

Kastner & Öhler is an Austrian department store chain that is mainly spread in the south of Austria. The company goes on for 1 January 1873 by Karl Kastner († 1921; age: 71) and Herman Öhler (1848-1918) in Opava verbücherten (now Opava, Czech Republic) haberdashery ( Karl Kastner & Ohler back). Kastner & Öhler has been selling sporting goods under the Gigasport brand since 1994.

history

In 1883 Karl Kastner missed his connecting train to Agram in Graz . While exploring the city, he found a vacant business premises in the centrally located Sackstrasse and rented it. The head office in Graz was created . In 1885 the company was the first in Central Europe to introduce fixed prices. These fixed prices enabled the next innovative step: in 1887 Kastner & Öhler was one of the first companies in Europe to start shipping by post. Multilingual catalogs were sent to customers throughout the Danube Monarchy.

In 1894, the company expanded and, after purchasing neighboring houses in Grazer Badgasse, built the first department store in Austria-Hungary . The galleries extended over three floors, which could be reached by lifts. In addition, the warehouse hall had a glass-roofed inner courtyard.

From 1912 to 1914 the department store was converted into one of the most modern in Europe at the time by the Viennese architects of Fellner & Helmer : Here there were customer lifts, ventilation systems, power units , pneumatic tube systems and a refreshment room with music. The centerpiece is the “Great Hall”: a splendid room stretching over three floors, which still exists today and was then decorated with a colorful glass dome. According to the company's website, Kastner & Öhler had 330 employees before the First World War , who now also sold hats, perfumes, leather goods, paper goods and men's fashion. In 1917 toys, household items, china and glass as well as stoves and ovens were added to the range.

In 1939 the then owners Franz Öhler, Richard Kastner (1875–1959) and Albert Kastner sold the company to their sons-in-law in order to avert expropriation after the annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany, and fled to Croatia. Franz Öhler was arrested and died in the Buchenwald concentration camp in 1945 . Due to the Nuremberg laws , the aryanised company had to be renamed "Alpenlandkaufhaus".

In 1945 the department store - like the neighboring Admonterhof - was partially destroyed in a bomb attack. After the end of the Second World War , the third generation of shareholders took over the department store with only 168 employees. The 1950s were then again characterized by growth. In 1959, innovative times were followed and the first escalator in Styria was put into operation at the headquarters in Graz . In the same year the company received a state award ; Since then it has been allowed to use the federal coat of arms in business transactions.

For the 100th anniversary in 1973, the Polish artists Grabiański and Jabłoński designed the well-known lion head logo. It remained in use until 1991.

In 1991 the main building in Graz was redesigned by the architectural office Szyszkowitz + Kowalski . The old substance of the house in Sackstrasse was combined with modern elements, the facade was adapted and the business premises were expanded to include the so-called Art Nouveau house in Murgasse .

In 1994 the mail order business, which had been in operation since the company was founded in 1887, was sold to Neckermann and renamed Neckermann Versand Österreich AG in 1997 . This went hand in hand with a streamlining of the product range, which resulted in a two- brand strategy in 2004 : since then, the focus on fashion & accessories, household items, toys & perfumes has been pursued under the name Kastner & Öhler , and the trade in sporting goods has been intensified under the Gigasport brand .

Roof landscape Kastner & Öhler seen from Schloßberg (next clock tower) (2011)

In 2003, an underground car park with 650 parking spaces was opened right next to the Mur . In 2008, the German-Spanish architecture firm Nieto Sobejano Arquitectos started the complete redesign of the house in Graz . The renovation opened in 2010 and received the ARE Design Award from the US Commercial Agency Association for Retail Environments in 2011 . The demolition of a vault from 1629, which took place without consultation with the old town commission, caused criticism. The visual alignment of the striking roof construction with the Graz roofscape, which was promised before the renovation, has not been made to this day - although the old town of Graz is at stake as a UNESCO World Heritage site .

  • Fashion report autumn and winter 1900–1901

  • The lion head

present

The company has been in the fifth generation of the family since 1996. In 2011, the management team Thomas Boeck and Martin Wäg by Andreas Zinschitz (for the brand was Gigasport ) by a third and in March 2013 with Alexander Petrskovsky extended by a fourth member of the board.

In 2014, the company greatly expanded its online shop for fashion goods.

Today Kastner & Öhler operates department stores in Bärnbach , Fohnsdorf , Fürstenfeld , Graz (2 locations), Kapfenberg / Sankt Lorenzen im Mürz Valley , Leoben , Liezen , Oberwart , Ried im Innkreis , Spittal an der Drau , Villach , Vöcklabruck , and Wolfsberg .

  • Roof extension at the main building in Graz. State October 2009

  • Interior view of the Graz department store (2012)

Gigasport

Kastner & Öhler sells sporting goods in its own branches under the Gigasport brand . In addition to Austria, Gigasport stores were also operated in Slovenia , the Czech Republic and Slovakia . In 2012, however, Gigasport closed its twelve branches in the Czech Republic and Slovakia with a total of 280 employees.

Gigasport currently has 15 branches in Austria.

Others

On December 19, 2015, a woman had an accident who was using the temporary flying fox from the roof of the Graz building and crashed into the quay wall on the opposite bank of the Mur. The mountain guide responsible for the operation stated that he had not properly attached the brake cable. The court agreed on a diversion in spring 2016.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b About us
  2. ↑ ( Part :) (...) Herman Oehler (...). In:  Neue Freie Presse , Morgenblatt, No. 19267/1918, April 16, 1918, p. 15. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / nfp.
  3. ^ Company minutes. (...) The company: Karl Kastner & Öhler (...). In:  Official Gazette to Wiener Zeitung , No. 113/1873, May 14, 1873, p. 664, column 1. (Online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / wrz;
    Entry on Kastner + Öhler Warenhaus AG in the Austria Forum  (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon ).
  4. ↑ Kastner & Öhler: A family with visions , accessed on October 28, 2014
  5. ↑ When Carl Kastner missed his train in 1883 , accessed on October 28, 2014
  6. ↑ http://www.kastner-oehler.at/ueber-uns/geschichte/
  7. ↑ http://www.kastner-oehler.at/ueber-uns/geschichte/
  8. ↑ http://w-magazin.at/2013/11/140-jahre-kastner-oehler/ 140 years Kastner & Öhler (W!) Accessed on November 12, 2014
  9. ↑ - ( Memento of the original from March 14, 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. ... bearers of the Austrian national coat of arms, accessed on November 12, 2014 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.staatswappen.at
  10. ↑ The lion in the department store (designbox) ( Memento of the original from March 4, 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. accessed on July 28, 2011 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / app.wirtschaft.steiermark.at
  11. ↑ Kastner & Öhler wins design award. ( Memento of the original from September 21, 2013 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. www.kastner-oehler.at, April 8, 2011. Retrieved October 15, 2011 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kastner-oehler.at
  12. ^ [1] The Cross with the Vault, Kleine Zeitung September 13, 2010.
  13. ↑ A wound in the roofscape of Graz. Der Standard, November 14, 2014. Retrieved March 3, 2015
  14. ^ Locations of Kastner & Öhler , accessed on November 12, 2014
  15. ↑ Gigasport blocks twelve branches in Eastern Europe on ORF from February 28, 2012 accessed on February 28, 2012
  16. ↑ Gigasport locations , accessed on November 17, 2014
  17. ^ Graz: Serious accident at the "Flying Fox" , kleinezeitung.at, December 19, 2015, accessed December 21, 2015.
  18. ^ Court - Flying Fox accident: Trial ended with diversion. In: Small newspaper. Retrieved June 15, 2016 .

Web links

Commons : Kastner and Öhler  - collection of images, videos and audio files