Consumption Austria

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Konsum Österreich is the name of what was once the largest Austrian consumer cooperative , which was created in 1978 through the merger of the most important regional consumer cooperatives (14) with the central economic body (formerly GöC ). The reason for the merger was the acute endangerment of some regional cooperatives and the hope of the management level to be able to cope better with the competition. The 1995 bankruptcy , which was settled in the form of a settlement, ended the role of the company that had shaped the development of the retail sector in the post-war period. For legal reasons, a small residual consumption has remained until today.

Long-time chairman of the supervisory board (1978 to 1990) and thus the highest owner representative was Anton Benya , 1963 to 1987 president of the Austrian Federation of Trade Unions ( ÖGB ). This was the result of decades of institutional ties. In 1922, for example, today's Bank for Labor and Economy (BAWAG) was founded by Karl Renner as a “workers' bank ” with the primary goal of having sufficient funds available to build up the consumer cooperatives in their severe economic crisis after the First World War. In the First Republic, the consumer cooperatives, alongside the trade unions and the social democratic party, were often referred to as the “third pillar of the labor movement”. The official connection between social democracy and the Austrian consumer cooperatives, which had existed since the party congress of the SDAP in 1909, became increasingly weaker after the Second World War in the course of general de-ideologization . The reason for the membership of the 700,000 members according to official figures (1994) for the majority was the favorable location of the consumer branches, ongoing events, special offers for members and the prospect of annual rebates . A similarity between the member organizations of the consumer cooperatives and the customer loyalty measures of today's retail trade is clearly recognizable.

15,081 employees were directly affected by the insolvency of Konsum Austria. At the time of the bankruptcy, 11,301 employees were working in sales, most of whom were taken over by the buyers of the branches . 2,062 people were employed in in-house production, most of whom continued to be employed by the buyers of the companies concerned. The employees in the logistics and administration of Konsum Austria were hardest hit by the compensation, with the highest number of job losses. In order to avoid cases of social hardship, a labor foundation was set up for them, as for all employees affected by unemployment. In total, the jobs of around 13,000 employees were secured by the companies taking over.

Some smaller regional consumer cooperatives , such as Ausseerland-Konsum (branch network in Ausseer Land ) and Salzkammergut-Konsum (branch network in the Inner Salzkammergut , the neighboring Salzburger Land and Vöcklabruck area ) as well as in Vorarlberg remained unaffected by the insolvency because they were legally independent companies. All branches of Konsum Österreich reg., Often referred to in the media as the “red giant” . Gen.mbH were affected by the insolvency proceedings and were largely sold to Rewe Austria ( Billa ), Spar , Julius Meinl and Zielpunkt as part of the settlement . Ausseerland-Konsum began a silent, bankruptcy-free liquidation in 2000 ; Salzkammergut-Konsum filed for bankruptcy at the regional court of Wels on May 23, 2011. Most of the branches in the Salzkammergut were again taken over by the Pfeiffer Group ( Unimarkt , Nah & Frisch) , as was the case eleven years earlier in Ausseerland .

History until 1978

The first cooperatives were founded in Austria after the Imperial Patent of November 26, 1852, when a new law on associations was created. Many workers who wanted to escape the rising prices showed solidarity locally on a cooperative basis. Numerous so-called consumer cooperatives, i.e. cooperatives in the retail trade, which primarily deal with the sale of food and beverages as well as related everyday goods, were founded. The first Austrian consumer association was founded by textile workers in Teesdorf in 1856 . In 1873 there were already 508 consumer cooperatives, including the First Lower Austrian Workers' Consumption Association founded in 1864 .

Gramatneusiedl , Marienthal factory colony , former Consumverein branch (by the group of trees) around 1980
Sollenau , Hammerhof , remains of the Consumverein branch belonging to the former cotton spinning mill around 1979 ( location until around 1986 )

In 1872 the general association, the self-help based trade and business cooperatives in Austria, was founded. The range of goods in the individual consumer cooperatives varied depending on the place and location as well as the size of the company and the social class of the members. On April 9, 1873, a new cooperative law was passed. This gave the cooperatives an independent legal personality and thus escaped state supervision, but stricter regulations came into force at the same time, such as mandatory registration or liability for members.

Between 1890 and 1910 the consumer cooperatives quintupled their sales and membership. In the majority of the consumer cooperatives in Vienna and Lower Austria , social democrats were also entrusted with the management of the social democratic members in the consumer cooperatives with the majority of votes. Although the party initially had clear reservations about this economically risky development, the wave of founding had the character of a “movement from below” that was difficult to control from an administrative point of view.

In 1903, with strong support from parts of the Social Democratic Party, the Central Association of Austrian Consumer Cooperatives was founded. This association soon split off from the General Association, which repeatedly emphasized its political neutrality.

In 1904 the central association already had 220 consumer cooperatives. By 1913, 70 percent of all Austrian consumer cooperatives belonged to the Central Association of Austrian Consumer Cooperatives. The rest, which remained in the general association, consisted of bourgeois consumer cooperatives, such as the important cooperative Erste Wiener Consum-Verein , founded in 1862 . The establishment of the Central Association of Austrian Consumer Cooperatives (in short: Consumer Association ) did not, however, lead directly to economic success. A considerable number of the Viennese consumer cooperatives were even ripe for bankruptcy . Since the consumer cooperatives were viewed in public as a social democratic institution and the Social Democratic Party did not want to afford this loss of image, the party had to take a flight forward and defuse the economically tense situation. With the support of the Social Democratic Party, five financially troubled consumer cooperatives were merged to form the workers' consumer cooperative Forward . At the party congress of the Social Democrats in 1909, the consumer cooperatives were recognized as "an equivalent weapon of the labor movement " alongside the trade unions and the party.

In 1905 the large purchasing company of Austrian consumer associations, or GöC for short , was founded. This enabled entry into wholesaling and centralized in-house production. The consumer association Vorwärts had a weak financial base from the start. So that he could establish himself on the Vienna market, he took out loans from GöC. Vorwärts granted excessive discounts , but these did not lead to the desired success. As a result of the price war, the economically healthy cooperatives also increasingly got into financial difficulties. The raising of their own resources by members could not keep pace with external growth and made many consumer cooperatives dependent on banks. The GöC also ran into financial difficulties as many of its member cooperatives owed large amounts.

As a result, consumer cooperatives from all over Austria had to make great financial sacrifices in order to secure the liquidity of the GöC. In 1913 Karl Renner , the then chairman of the consumer association, reacted to the financially strained situation of the consumer cooperatives by founding the credit association of Austrian workers 'associations (predecessor of the workers' bank founded in 1923 and today's Bawag PSK ). This association pooled union funds, funds from consumer cooperatives and social democratic organizations. The credit association of the Austrian labor association managed to save the GöC from financial ruin, but it was only financially rehabilitated when it was integrated into the war economy of the First World War .

First World War and consequences

From 1916 the consumer cooperatives became a distribution organization for the war economy . In order to prevent strikes by the starving workers in factories that were responsible for war production, food associations were formed from the consumer cooperatives, which took over the supply of the armaments industry with food. The government-delegated organization of food deliveries to consumer cooperatives helped them to make record profits. The consumer cooperatives were able to repay their debts to the banks and the GöC. They also gained reputation because they were less profit-oriented than the private merchants in the dominant seller's market.

The consumer cooperatives had gained great influence over government offices during the war . The cooperative operations expanded strongly. The difficult situation in the food sector brought the consumer cooperatives a large influx of new members. After the end of the war, attempts were made to transform numerous armaments companies into civilian " public service companies", and the GöC participated in 23 such companies.

In 1920 the cooperative law was amended, the liability of the members was restricted, and the merger of consumer cooperatives was simplified. In the same year, the consumer cooperative Wien und Umgebung (KGW) was founded by merger . At around the same time, however, trade was also liberalized, while inflation rose steadily. The consumer cooperatives were faced with falling sales and profits, as well as a falling number of members.

From 1924 the consumer cooperatives of the consumer association were reorganized. The consequences of the reorganization had the following effects:

  • Although there was still a close relationship with the Social Democrats ( SDAP ), the consumer cooperatives now tried to a greater extent to be considered non-partisan in the sense of Rochdale neutrality .
  • The consumer cooperatives were unified, most of the consumer cooperatives adopted the model statutes of the association.
  • Desolate companies from the food and textile industries were taken over by the GöC. The GöC department stores were created through the takeover of textile shops. Thus the textile business was spun off from the consumer cooperatives.
  • The GöC grew beyond its actual function as a pure large-scale purchasing company. For the sale of long-term consumer goods, GöC founded its own credit organization, called Gara .

The Great Depression in 1929 led to a decline in sales at the consumer cooperatives, which, however, remained relatively successful economically due to the inelasticity of the demand for basic food. However, they were financially supported by the workers' bank. The central cooperative in-house production was also increasingly used. The bourgeois Erste Wiener Consum-Verein, which was incorporated into the KGW in 1939 after compensation proceedings in 1926 and 1935, was and remained threatened.

Consumer cooperatives in the corporate state

The new political situation with the onset of Austrofascism from 1933 onwards did not represent an economic, but a political threat to the consumer cooperatives . The social democratic consumer cooperatives were severely affected by several laws in the corporate state (federal state of Austria) .

  • The consumer cooperatives were subject to the trade regulations and therefore had to apply for trade licenses and certificates of competence.
  • Consumer cooperatives were banned from opening new stores.
  • Five percent of the existing stores had to close.
  • In 1934 the workers' bank was dissolved. The complete dissolution of the consumer cooperatives was prevented by the help of the bourgeois, agricultural cooperatives.

Paradoxically, however, some coercive measures had positive side effects. Due to the need to close five percent of the shops, the possibility arose of getting rid of the financially most unsuccessful branches - branch closings are a big problem for cooperatives under democratic conditions because of the constant interventions by member representatives. The ban on expanding in the retail sector also drew the management's attention to the possibility of increased in-house production.

Consumer cooperatives between 1938 and 1945

With the annexation to the German Reich , the consumer cooperatives got into an even more difficult situation than in the corporate state. The first measure was the smuggling of National Socialists into key management positions, although the traditional management cadre initially remained largely intact. In 1941 the consumer cooperatives were incorporated into the “joint venture of the German labor front ”, although here too the middle and even higher management (examples: Korp, Strobl) remained largely undisturbed and were able to “hibernate”.

Consumer cooperatives 1945 to 1978

The rebuilding of the consumer cooperatives was quick. The consumer association, the central association of Austrian consumer cooperatives and the central bank of the consumer cooperatives were founded as early as 1946, with the purpose of restoring the cooperative assets. A total of 28 large consumer cooperatives were initially created, in which 95 percent of all consumer cooperatives were united. By 1951, the membership level reached 1937.

In the post-war economy, individual regional cooperatives succeeded in positioning themselves as innovators in the retail sector (e.g. with the introduction of self-service ), but some consumer cooperatives were confronted with economic problems again as early as 1958. The share of equity in total capital decreased constantly. The rivalry between the capital city cooperative KGW and the GöC, embodied in the personalities Otto Sagmeister and Andreas Korp , turned out to be an institutional burden. The number of members rose steadily and in 1955 had achieved an annual growth rate of 2 percent. The main reason for joining a consumer cooperative was the reimbursement. In higher income and social classes, the quality of the goods was often rated as negative. Large retail chains were considered more progressive.

Consumption Austria membership card

The membership structure was completely outdated. There were almost twice as many over-70s as under-30s among the members. In order to solve the general structural problems and to put the cooperatives on a financially secure basis, the “1969 Concept” was developed as a proposal for structural reform in the working sessions between February 1968 and March 1969.

In 1970, a consumer wholesale market with a sales area of ​​10,000 square meters was opened in Vösendorf . A consumer furniture store followed in 1973. The number of county cooperatives decreased from 24 to 16 in 1972 due to mergers. Between 1971 and 1977, smaller and unprofitable shops closed. At the same time, the number of larger self-service shops with a sales area between 400 and 1000 m² increased.

The range of goods was expanded to include non-food , mainly textiles. Due to the close relationship with the Social Democratic Party, when building a community building, the consumer cooperatives were almost automatically granted building rights with a corresponding land zoning. In terms of image, the consumer cooperative, according to a survey in 1971, was characterized as follows: large, well-known, consumer-friendly, inexpensive and proven. Nevertheless, the market share of the consumer cooperatives increased only slightly.

Development into a consumer retail chain

Exterior view of an abandoned consumer store in Vienna's 4th district, 1978
Interior of a consumer branch in Vienna's Donauzentrum , 1979

By the mid-1970s, the financial situation of some regional cooperatives was already worrying. Among other things, this affected Upper Styria, the western part of Lower Austria and the Vorarlberg region (but not the local consumer associations there). Upper Styria in particular was too big a problem to be resolved by merging with a healthier neighboring cooperative. The general assembly of the central cash register of the consumer cooperative therefore passed the resolution on June 25, 1976 to found a primary cooperative in three phases. The first phase was the creation of a new central organization, which initially only included the central cash office and the consumer association. On July 20, 1976, the central consumption Austria reg. Gen.mbH, today's (2010) Konsum Austria registered cooperative with limited liability.

In the second phase, the individual consumer cooperatives should be given the opportunity to join central consumption. In the third and final phase, the national consumer cooperative, Konsum Österreich, was to be founded through a change in company law. The three-phase plan was changed due to the fear that only the economically weaker consumer cooperatives would agree to merge, while the more powerful would stay away. The second and third phases have been combined. At the same time, all consumer cooperatives merged with the central cash office, and it was decided to found Konsum Austria . The cooperatives Ausseerland , Salzkammergut , Abtenau, Ludesch, Schruns and the surrounding area and the Erste Lungauer Wirtschaftsverein did not join the consumption.

On June 22, 1978 the company Konsum Österreich reg. Gen.mbH decided, one day later a ceremony was held in the Hofburg to establish the "new" consumerism. In fact, it was already an emergency merger. In the media, however, the event was portrayed as the formation of an imposing “red giant”.

After a brief recovery phase, the balance sheets of the merged company from the mid-1980s onwards showed increasingly dramatic business losses that could only be concealed with difficulty and superficially, for example by means of sale-lease-back transactions. The new construction of the central warehouse in Hirschstetten, which cost 720 million schillings, turned out to be a bad investment. By 1989 the loss of consumption had already risen to 1.3 billion schillings.

The last phase of decline from 1991

In 1991, Hermann Gerharter replaced Manfred Kadits, the long-time director general, at the helm of Konsum Austria. Gerharter wanted to be in the black from 1994. However, it became increasingly clear that Consumption Austria was no longer capable of a turnaround on its own. At the same time, however, there was still great resistance to giving up one's own independence. In 1991 cooperation talks with the Swiss consumer cooperatives Coop and Migros failed . In 1992, new talks remained unsuccessful. On October 16, 1992 Konsum sold 71,150 shares in BAWAG (around 5 percent of the company) to Z-Länderbank Bank Austria AG. The corresponding contract provided for the establishment of a silent partnership Konsum Österreich Z-Länderbank Bank Austria AG .

In 1993 it finally came to a cooperation with Migros. The cooperation should primarily affect the purchasing, marketing and sales areas. After Migros took over the grocery chain of Familia and Dogro stores that Zumtobel had started in 1975, Migros acquired a 25 percent stake in the merger to form KGM Familia stores by bringing in these 60 stores. Marketing was handled by the newly founded Marketing Austria GmbH & Co KG, in which both cooperatives held a 50 percent share.

On June 25, 1993, a general assembly approved an amendment. This amendment resolution provided for the establishment of a joint sales company, namely KGM-Familia Warenhandelsges.mbH , in which Migros held 50% and the management. In addition, Migros should be enabled to buy another 15 percent of KGM-Familia Ges.mbH . The KGM Familia Warenhandelsges.mbH consisted of 74 KGM markets, 8 sports stores and 87 Familia- and Dogro markets. CEO Erich Ruthner from Konsum Austria became executive director. On September 30, 1993 Konsum-Migros Warenhandels GmbH & Co KG was founded for goods procurement, logistics and product range design.

A sale of the Steffl department store , which was targeted in 1994 , did not materialize. On November 23, 1994, discussions were held on Migros to expand its stake. A majority stake by the Swiss was also considered. On December 12th, talks were held with Julius Meinl AG about the takeover of the branch network “The Fresh Consumption” chain.

1995 and bankruptcy

On January 10th, Konsum Austria invited to the banking summit, the participating banks were Bawag, Bank Austria , Creditanstalt , Giro Credit , PSK and PSK Bank (today: BAWAG PSK), Erste Österreichische Spar-Casse , Volksbanken AG and Raiffeisen Zentralbank . The banks decided to put the following financing on a consortium basis in relation to the loan liability. The lead manager was Investkredit, which is owned by all these banks.

The debt level of the Konsum Austria Group increased from 12 billion schillings (872 million euros) to 14 billion schillings (approximately 1 billion euros).

On January 12th, Konsum Österreich handed over the negotiation documents for the sale of 50% of the KGM / Familia shares, 75% of the DFK real estate, 100% Meat / Ährenstolz operations to Migros to the consortium leaders. Four days later, on January 16, was the CS First Boston as financial adviser to the sale of 30.66% stake in BAWAG, Gerngross group, the ears pride baking and milling industry Ges.mbH, the Meat and Livestock meat marketing Ges.mbH, the K. Knäbchen Ges.mbH and the tagger Kraftfutterwerke and mills AG commissioned.

Between January 19 and 20, there was an exchange of letters between Konsum Austria and the 69.34% -BAWAG majority owner ÖGB about the pledging of the 30.66% of the shares held by Konsum Austria. According to an agreement from 1968, a sale to a third party was only possible after prior written confirmation. The ÖGB agreed to the pledge, in return it was granted a right of first refusal. The Austrian investment loan AG approved the granting of Vorkaufsrechtes to as mortgagee. The value of the block of shares was 436,864,000 schillings (31.8 million euros). The shares were pledged to a banking consortium led by Investkredit.

On January 24th, negotiations took place between Konsum and Billa about the takeover of the Konsum Austria branches. 6 days later the Bayerische Landesbank Girozentrale announced its interest in the pledged Bawag shares. On February 9, the general assembly of Konsum Austria approved the pledging of all of its Bawag shares.

The financial situation of consumption came to a head, the banks decided on March 3rd not to make any further payments from the syndicated loan. In addition, a delegation was sent to Migros in Zurich. At the talks on March 8th, Migros was surprised by the economic situation in consumption in Austria. The Swiss partner knew that there was a loss situation at the time of the cooperation agreement, but they were satisfied with the explanations provided by the consumption management at the time. That is why Migros now felt deceived and began to prepare to withdraw from the collaboration.

As of March 9, Konsum Austria itself and 22 subsidiaries were insolvent. The Gerngross Group and Tagger AG were not affected by the bankruptcy . The banks involved issued payment guarantees for new deliveries and services on behalf of Konsum Österreich, which prevented bankruptcy. On March 10th, Billa broke off the takeover talks about the purchase of the consumer branch network. Between March 13th and 15th, the sale of Bawag shares for 4.3 billion Schilling to the Bayerische Landesbank was clarified with the ÖGB. On March 24th, the board of Konsum Austria and the supervisory board decided to sell the shares in the Austrian National Bank worth 200 million schillings (14.5 million euros) to PSK Beteiligungsverwaltungs Aktiengesellschaft.

On March 31, 1995, the compensation was filed with the Vienna Commercial Court (at that time still in Riemergasse in the 1st district , therefore colloquially “the corridor in Riemergasse”), which was opened on April 6th. Around 3,350 suppliers were affected by the compensation. The total debts of the consumer group (excluding Tagger and Gerngross) amounted to 17.4 billion schillings (1.26 billion euros; according to the lexicon of the Viennese social democracy it was 26 billion schillings or 1.89 billion euros). The settlement of the “red giant” was the largest economic failure of the Second Republic until Alpine Holding went bankrupt .

The loss that Migros made through the consumer cooperation is likely to amount to around 2.3 billion schillings (0.19 billion euros). The general assembly meeting on April 7th dismissed the board with immediate effect and then unanimously elected Hansjörg Tengg as chairman of the board and Jan Wiedey as his deputy. In retrospect, Tengg assumed the role of “consumer liquidator”. The Tagger AG became the property of Bank Austria. The termination agreement between Konsum Austria and Migros signed on May 15 also sealed the end of this cooperation. The Spar Austria Warenhandels AG took over the 32 branches of the Familia retail GmbH in Vorarlberg.

The approximately 630 branches were divided among the competitors Spar , Billa, Adeg , LÖWA and Meinl. The Gerngross Group was taken over by the Palmers Group, while the Ährenstolz bread factory went to Ankerbrot . Billa took over the 60 loss-making Coop shops and Inform perfumeries . Some of these “consumer bankruptcy winners” took over: Meinl and Löwa had to withdraw from the grocery trade, and Ankerbrot got into economic turmoil as a result.

The liabilities to third party creditors of Konsum Austria amounted to approx. ATS 13.6 billion (approx. EUR 1 billion) in June 1995. The frequently widespread figure of ATS 25 billion (approx. EUR 1.8 billion) does not take into account the receivables and liabilities of Konsum Austria to be offset internally , which did not affect external creditors . Up to June 1998 Konsum Austria paid out approx. ATS 9.2 billion (approx. EUR 0.67 billion) from the sale of its assets to its creditors. The preferred debts (approx. ATS 5.5 billion) were 100 percent fulfilled. For the quota debts (approx. ATS 8.1 billion), a compensation rate of approx. 45 percent was achieved. On average, the creditors received 67.4 percent of their outstanding claims covered. The direct damage to the unsecured creditors of Konsum Austria amounted to around EUR 325 million.

Konsum Austria has never filed for bankruptcy. One of the main reasons may have been that in 1995 consumption still had a few hundred thousand, officially 700,000, members. Since in the case of bankruptcy each member would have been liable with double the share of the business, which according to the statutes was 6,000 schillings (436.03 euros), there would have been great unrest among the population because most members had not paid up their share in full. It would also have been a great effort to sue hundreds of thousands of members for several thousand schillings each. Incidentally, this would very likely have caused very big political waves. The compensation was settled with a 55% quota to the creditors.

In the end, the entire board was convicted of negligent crime in 1999. The process costs were taken over by Konsum Austria. Because of the expert fees, it was also a very expensive process. The most expensive report cost 7 million schillings (508,709.84 euros) in the process.

Ex-General Director Hermann Gerharter, who had already been sentenced to conditional imprisonment and a fine for negligent Krida, then had to answer again in court, because relatively shortly before the bankruptcy of his company, he transferred all of his property to his wife and daughter would have. Gerharter was sentenced in the first and in July 2001 in the second instance for fraudulent crime to 6 months unconditional and 15 months suspended prison sentence. Only in the last instance in December 2002 with a judgment of the Supreme Court were the 6 months canceled and the sentence conditionally reduced to 15 months. In the course of the BAWAG proceedings , Gerharter was convicted a third time. His undoing was a “donation” from ex-Bawag boss Helmut Elsner , who had given him 600,000 euros in a plastic bag.

After the compensation from 1996

From 1996 onwards, the shrinking cooperative Konsum Österreich, which still exists in 2010 and is represented by Jan Wiedey as the new chairman of the board, was again active in the trade with small supermarkets (for the sale of "travel provisions" in the legal sense) and holds various investments.

In the meantime, a change has also been made in the commercial register: The former Konsum Austria registered cooperative with limited liability has deleted the name Konsum from the company name and instead adopted the name of the subsidiary OKAY. At the same time the type of company was changed from a registered to a registered cooperative.

The official designation of consumption is therefore currently: OKAY Team registered cooperative (with limited liability) .

Holdings

Okay retail supermarkets

An okay market for consumption in Austria

The 100% consumer subsidiary KOGROSS-Konsumgüter Großkonsumerbelieferungs-Gesellschaft mbH , founded in 1954, became OKAY Managementges.mbH in June 1998 , with a 40% stake in KOVI Warenhandelsgesellschaft mbH , which was founded in July 1990 as KOVI Immobiliengesellschaft mbH . The majority of 60% directly holds the Konsum-Österreich-Genossenschaft. From 1996 the OKAY grocery stores were opened in transport facilities such as train stations with flexible opening times for the delivery of "travel provisions". In 2006 OKAY had three branches across Austria in Vienna with the Südbahnhof , the Westbahnhof and the traffic station Wien Mitte-Landstrasse , as well as in Krems and Wiener Neustadt . It was planned (2006) to expand by a further 20 branches, especially in the "Federal Railroad Region East".

The branch at Vienna's Südbahnhof had to give way to demolition. There was an oral agreement between the Konsum Austria and Okay managing director Wiedey and the ÖBB for a replacement location at the provisional terminus of the Südbahn Wien Meidling , but this was not kept by the ÖBB. However, Wiedey hopes to be able to get an okay location again in the new Vienna Central Station through the later general operating company, "which sees it as a whole and no longer just as a train station, like the ÖBB".

As of October 2017, the following operational locations existed:

Railway stations:

International comparison

The history of the consumer cooperatives in Austria shows very clear parallels to other similar forms of organization, for example in Germany (crisis of Co-op AG), France (major crisis in the sector 1984-85). In Great Britain and Scandinavia, too, there are similar phenomena of "fatigue" of the once dynamic and innovative retail cooperatives. The reasons can include a. Mentioned are the long-standing personal inbreeding among functionaries and management and the lack of economic competence of many functionaries, who could therefore only act as “yes-men”. In addition, too much consideration for the trade unions in a highly competitive economic sector with low profit margins, the "oversleeping" of modern developments such as discount business, etc. Thus, the consumer branches seemed "old-fashioned", closing unprofitable branches was taboo because of the loss of jobs .

Consumer Museum in Vienna

The consumer museum in Vienna is an important part of the activities of the FKG - research association for the development and history of consumer cooperatives in Austria. The spiritual and material foundations of the consumer cooperatives in Austria can be understood in a logical sequence in 21 showcases. It will u. a. informs about the idea, the pioneers, membership, administration, organs, shops, branches, logistics, in-house production, press and advertising of the cooperatives. The centerpiece is the "old shop" from the early 20th century.

Oddities

For Hermann Gerharter, "whom Hansjörg Tengg describes as a 'tragic personality' who was 'completely overwhelmed'" (quoted from the press ), the Swiss (meaning: Migros) were to blame for the problems of consumption:

“In the middle of Carnival, the retail giant Migros took the donuts off the shelves of the consumer. Hermann Gerharter was very serious about his criticism when he appeared on television during those memorable days in April 1995. The then head of the Austrian retail giant Konsum did not feel like joking. His explanation for the problems of consumption was symptomatic of a system of wrong decisions, mismanagement, lack of control and strategic foresight, as well as political interference by red trade unionists, which led to the ruin of the once flourishing retail chain. "

- The press, April 2010

literature

  • Robert Blaich: The red giant wobbles ... 1988 - vision, 1995 - reality. The development of the consumer cooperatives in Austria. Tosa, Vienna 1995, ISBN 3-85001-563-7 .
  • Johann Brazda , Siegfried Rom (Ed.): 150 Years of Consumer Cooperatives in Austria. Vienna 2006, ISBN 3-9501499-2-9 .
  • Johann Brazda, Robert Schediwy (Ed.): Consumer Cooperatives in a Changing World. International Co-operative Alliance, Geneva 1989, ISBN 2-88381-000-1 (2 volumes), PDF .
  • Liselotte Douschan: Anton Benya, Austrian trade union and national council president . Böhlau Verlag, Vienna 2011, ISBN 978-3-205-78748-8 .
  • Helmut Huber: History of the Austrian consumer cooperative movement until 1950. University for World Trade, Vienna 1974 (diploma thesis).
  • Florian Jagschitz, Siegfried Rom: Current development of the Austrian consumer cooperatives . Self-published by FOG, Vienna 2012.
  • Emil J. Knotzer: On the way to ruin. The corporate policy of “Konsum Österreich reg.Gen.mbH” 1978–1995. FGK, Vienna 2003, ISBN 3-9501499-1-0 .
  • Anton E. Rauter: Concentration in retail . ORAC, 1983
  • Franz Seibert: The consumer cooperatives in Austria. Europaverlag, Vienna 1978, ISBN 3-203-50708-0 .
  • "Wrong brain" and "a little fat" - a cookbook from the bad times - published in 1948 by the cooperative women's organization of Austria, new edition in 2017 by the Heinrich Kaufmann Foundation, Hamburg and the research association for the development and history of consumer cooperatives (FGK), Vienna, 2017 Norderstedt, ISBN 978-3-7431-3415-7
  • Peter Höfferer, Florian Jagschitz, Siegfried Rome: 160 Years of Consumer Cooperatives in Austria, Publisher: Research Association Development and History of Consumer Cooperatives (FGK), Vienna, 2nd edition, ISBN 978-3-9501499-7-5 .

Web links

Commons : Konsum Österreich  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Development and history of the consumer cooperatives ("Konsum-Museum"), Vienna.

Individual evidence

  1. a b c d Konsum Austria registered cooperative with limited liability. Entry in firmenabc.at. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
  2. ^ Application for insolvency registration “Konsum Österreich” from March 14, 1995.
  3. Current development of the Austrian consumer cooperatives . Self-published by FOG, Vienna 2012, p. 20.
  4. Compare Fritz Klein: Self-help out of Christian responsibility. Kommunal-Verlag Recklinghausen, 1967, page 43.
  5. This hit the bourgeois Erste Wiener Consum-Verein particularly badly, whose customers were the now pauperized middle classes. Compare: The debt of the First Vienna Consumer Association. In: Badener Zeitung , September 18, 1926, p. 3, top right ( online in Anno ).
  6. a b c d e f First Lower Austrian Workers' Consumption Association. In: dasrotewien.at - Web dictionary of the Viennese social democracy. SPÖ Vienna (ed.); Retrieved October 21, 2010.
  7. Curriculum vitae according to the website of the Czernin publishing house: Dr., born 1939 in Stein / Ems, trained industrial clerk, senior secretary in the Chamber of Labor, social academy, vocational maturity examination, law degree. From 1972 chairman of the board at Konsum Obersteiermark, 1978 board director at Konsum Austria, from 1991 to 1995 general director there. At the same time General Council of the Oesterreichische Nationalbank and Vice President of BAWAG. Gerharter lives with his family in Lower Austria.
  8. Company history ( Memento of the original from November 13, 2010 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. the F. M. Zumtobel. Retrieved October 21, 2010 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.fmzumtobel.com
  9. a b Ten years ago the red giant went under. In: derStandard.at , April 18, 2005. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
  10. a b c d e Hedi Schneid: 15 years of consumer bankruptcy: downfall of the "red giant". In: Die Presse , print edition April 4, 2010. Accessed October 21, 2010.
  11. a b Oliver Bayer: From consumption to Libro: The biggest bankruptcies in Austria. ( Memento from September 4, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: Wirtschaftsblatt , October 21, 2010. Accessed October 21, 2010.
  12. 150 years of consumer cooperatives in Austria . Self-published by the FGK, Vienna 2006, p. 17.
  13. ^ A b Max Pohl: Trade in Transition. In: LK-Handelszeitung, special edition 35 Jahre Handelszeitung, March 2006, p. 26 ( full text as PDF, p. 26 ( Memento of the original from November 22, 2009 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 note. ). @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.handelszeitung.at
  14. Interview with ex-consumer boss Hermann Gerharter. In: The Standard .
  15. Konsum Austria and the successor cooperative OKAY Team registered cooperative with limited liability. Parliamentary question . Republic of Austria, Parliament, February 18, 2015, accessed on October 18, 2015 .
  16. OKAY team registered cooperative. Herold, February 18, 2015, accessed October 18, 2015 .
  17. OKAY Managementges.mbH Entry in firmenabc.at. Retrieved October 21, 2010.
  18. KOVI Warenhandelsgesellschaft mbH  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Entry in firmenabc.at. Retrieved October 21, 2010.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.firmenabc.at  
  19. Werner Grotte: "It won't be easy without a train station!" In: Wiener Zeitung , print edition December 12, 2009. Accessed November 21, 2013.
  20. Herold [1] accessed on October 17, 2017.
  21. Compare Bruno Kreisky's (Federal Chancellor; SPÖ) policy on the taboo on the closure of consumer branches , which he presented several times with his statement (with different wording): “I prefer a few billion schillings in debt to a few hundred thousand unemployed. “Quoted e.g. B. in the Arbeiter-Zeitung of April 8, 1979. See Bruno Kreisky: FAQ ( Memento of the original of October 21, 2003 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. in the Kreisky archive. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kreisky.org
  22. Flyer "Konsum-Museum", publisher: FGK research association for the development and history of consumer cooperatives, 1190 Vienna, undated.