Kenvelo
Kenvelo is a textile retail company based in Říčany near Prague , Czech Republic .
history
The company was founded in 1991 by Dany Himi. The Israeli businessman opened his first shop in Plzeň , and others followed. By 1995 he owned 35 stores. Together with his business partners, almost exclusively managers whom Himi had brought to the Czech Republic from his homeland, the ambitious climber was looking for a uniform and catchy company name for the growing retail chain in the same year. A myth, which Himi helped to construct, grew around the naming, according to which the name Kenvelo was immediately accepted by all participants after several unsuccessful discussions. The name is a combination of the Hebrew words "ken", "ve" and "lo" ( Hebrew כן ולא), in German “yes and no” (literally “yes and no”). In the course of the naming, the holding company Kenvelo SZ was founded, based in Prague.
Kenvelo primarily competes with the Swedish fashion group Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) and the Spanish Inditex group ( Zara ), but only holds the position of market leader in its home market. The brand is successful in the Czech youth culture, according to a survey around 93 percent of all young Czechs know the label.
Expansion intentions and start-up problems in Germany
The chain wants to establish itself across Europe in several steps, with Germany as the most important stage. In January 2003 the subsidiary Kenvelo Sportswear GmbH was founded in Berlin , in March 2003 Himi announced the majority takeover of the loss-making fashion chain Jean Pascale (JP), which until then belonged to the Düsseldorf cosmetics group Marbert . The coup should give Kenvelo access to an existing network of 179 branches. At that time, Kenvelo had almost as many branches as H&M. The head office was moved from the capital to the former JP headquarters in Norderstedt . With the EU expansion to the east in May 2004, the company planned to expand into the key market of Germany.
The start-up turned out to be more difficult than expected. Even before the planned start of Germany in May, Kenvelo Aktiengesellschaft , the successor to Jean Pascale AG, had to file for bankruptcy in February 2004 due to high losses . The takeover by the Czech fashion chain and the first attempts at restructuring could not bring about a turnaround in the poorly started financial year 2003, especially since most of the stores were still operating under the JP logo. High rents sealed the insolvency. During the insolvency proceedings, in which he was significantly involved as sole director of Kenvelo AG, Himi also positioned himself as a prospective buyer for the bankruptcy estate. Ultimately, Kenvelo Sportswear GmbH took over 90 former JP branches and 1,700 employees, for whom new tariff conditions and the return to the 40-hour week were negotiated. The Kenvelo AG was dissolved in the course of the bankruptcy in August 2004, the label Jean Pascale was given up. In addition, 60 unprofitable branches were closed and 800 employees made redundant, not counting the terminations and branch closings between March 2003 (takeover of the majority of shares by Himi) and February 2004 (bankruptcy filing of the stock corporation). The balance sheet of Marbert AG, which was able to bring a small part of its block of shares into free float in the course of 2003 , was burdened by the insolvency by around 20 million euros, which caused the company board of Piofrancesco Borghetti to have to explain.
Restructuring, a new beginning and final failure in Germany
In 2005 Kenvelo posted sales of 55 million euros in Germany and further losses, which led to restructuring in the entire company. Himi handed over the management of the entire company to his partner and Kenvelo co-founder David Dahan, the management of the German business was handed over to the wholesaler and buyer Mete Askinoglu. In addition, Himi sold his shares in the holding company Kenvelo SZ to Sefran Finance SA, which had already acquired a 50% stake in the Kenvelo Group in July 2004. The board of directors of Marbert AG, Piofrancesco Borghetti, has a 50% stake in Sefran Finance. Borghetti, who had massively lost his reputation within the Marbert Group during the Jean Pascale / Kenvelo insolvency, became the majority owner of the Kenvelo Group through the deal. The remaining 15% of the shares still belong to David Dahan.
There has been public speculation several times as to whether Himi has sold his shares of his own free will. According to rumors and an article in the Czech newspaper "Týden", the Kenvelo founder resisted his replacement for a long time and even had his office at the company headquarters blocked by a private security guard for a few days. Only several criminal complaints should have induced him to give in. The company did not comment on the report.
In January 2006 the headquarters of Kenvelo Sportswear GmbH was relocated to Neuss . The reason for the move was primarily due to logistical changes; the new head office is conveniently located for most of the branches. In addition, most of the Kenvelo collections have been produced in Turkey since then . In December of the same year, the restructuring in Germany was completed, with the number of branches in the Federal Republic reduced to 60. The closings affected branches that, in the opinion of the management, had no development potential. The break-even point in 2006 did not reach the company, the specifications of the new managing Askinoklu According to the company generated in October month, "an increase of 30% compared to last year."
At the beginning of 2007, Kenvelo started growing again in Germany. In January, due to the demolition of the Haerder house, a branch was opened in Lübeck on Holstenstrasse, and another followed in September in Dinslaken . For the 2007 financial year, the company management anticipated a slight increase, and lease and franchise agreements were also concluded for 2008 in Aachen , Trier , Hildesheim and Münster . Establishing the brand continued to be difficult, however, and Kenvelo was unable to break out of the shadow of its big competitors H&M and Inditex (Zara) .
On May 26th, 2009 the insolvency proceedings concerning the assets of KENVELO Germany GmbH were initiated before the District Court of Düsseldorf, the Düsseldorf law firm Metzeler von der Fecht took over the insolvency administration. The company is currently no longer active in Germany.
Corporate structure
Kenvelo has 230 branches in the Czech Republic, Russia, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia. With 110 stores in 20 countries - including Austria, Israel, England and Russia - the company works together on a franchise basis. The company has not released exact sales figures and balance sheets. The declared goals of the top management were the complete consolidation of the German subsidiary by the end of 2007 and, based on this, a nationwide network of at least 1000 stores in Europe.
Similar to H&M, Kenvelo relies on shops in the best locations, preferably close to the city center, for sales. However, in contrast to the H&M branches, the stores are not based on the design concepts of other premium and high-price brands. New branches are also only planned in cities with at least 100,000 inhabitants. Kenvelo has 5 product lines. The core range is the clothing and underwear collections for women and men, and some shops have a children's collection. The range is supplemented by accessories and bags. The label slogan “anywhere” can also be found in the extended version of the brand logo. The company's internal motto is “The best fashion and the best quality for affordable price!” (“The best fashion and the best quality at affordable prices!”).
Web links
- Company: Flying scraps . In: Prager Zeitung (Short article on the change in leadership at Kenvelo)
- The unknown size . In: Prager Zeitung (article on the expansion plans at Kenvelo)