Consumption (retail chain)
Consumption was the brand of the consumer cooperatives also in the GDR . The individual cooperatives operated grocery stores, production plants and restaurants.
In the western federal states of Germany there were (traditionally) also many consumer businesses that were organized as consumer cooperatives. Most of them merged with the co op AG in the 1970s , with the expression “I go to consumption” being used in everyday language.
In contrast to the word for consumption or consumption of goods, the emphasis here is on the "o" and with a short "u" (pronounced kónnsumm ).
Konsum Österreich was the name of what was once the largest Austrian consumer cooperative.
The GDR consumer cooperatives
After the Second World War , on December 18, 1945, Order No. 176 of the Soviet Military Administration ( SMAD ) approved the restoration of the consumer cooperatives in the Soviet zone of occupation. By 1948, 290 consumer cooperatives had already formed in various cities. The Association of German Consumer Cooperatives (VDK) had been given the task of supporting the supply of the population with the help of various supply institutions and offering low purchase prices. One of the main forms of rural trade in the 1950s and 1960s was the village consumer cooperatives . In 1956 the consumption already had over three million members. The graphic artist Karl Thewalt designed its own association symbol in 1959. An industrial chimney and a scythe form the capital letter "K". Advertising figures, advertising films and advertising photos were produced in cooperation with DEWAG Deutsche Werbe- und Werbunggesellschaft . For many years Konsum and HO (trade organization) operated parallel advertising, later joint advertising was also published.
The 198 consumer cooperatives that existed in 1989 were organized in 14 district associations, these in turn in the VDK (Association of German Consumer Cooperatives, today Zentralkonsum eG ). The central company (ZU) Konsument, which operated department stores under the name Konsument , was subordinate to the association itself as the managing body . The association also included 28 industrial companies ( pasta Riesa , Gewürzmühle Schönbrunn, Röstfein Magdeburg, Melde Cottbus, brush factory Stützengrün, Zündwaren Riesa , soap factory Riesa), several training facilities and the Oberhof consumer recreation center (today the 4-star Berghotel Oberhof). The consumer cooperative wholesaling, like industrial companies in some cases, was nationalized by the GDR leadership. In particular, the lack of a wholesaler of its own turned out to be a decisive competitive disadvantage after reunification under market-economy competitive conditions - in addition to unclear ownership of land. This trade chain was the largest in the GDR after the (state) HO (trade organization) . Consumer cooperatives were already private companies in the GDR and belonged exclusively to their approximately 4.5 million members.
In the GDR slang , consumption was often used generally for grocery stores. Originally and officially, this name only applied to the sales outlets of this cooperative . Occasionally the term was carried over to other small shops of this type, especially in the country.
Utilities, department stores and mail order companies
The consumer cooperatives included larger shops in the cities, especially department stores ( supermarkets ) and the department store chains Konsument , Kontex-Kaufhaus and kontakt . Another chain was Kontaktring , a trading association that offered consumer and HO products . In almost every village there was a consumption (“village consumption”), and many businesses had a smaller consumer outlet for basic food supplies in the factory. Shift workers liked to use these facilities on site. In addition, there were own sales facilities for meat and sausage products that were produced in the meat processing plants of the consumer. There were mobile consumer sales facilities in rural areas in the form of consumer sales buses that regularly supplied the population with basic foodstuffs. Furthermore, at harvest time, the farmers' harvest was organized by the consumer cooperatives directly on the field. A mobile consumption break supply was also used on major construction sites. In the 1950s there was even its own sales ship called “Kambala”, which was used as a floating sales point to supply inland waterway boats. In addition, numerous restaurants (consumer restaurants) were operated, some of which were leased to private landlords as " commission restaurants ".
In 1965 the department stores of the VDK merged to become consumer department stores . The first department stores with the name Konsument were in Gera , Potsdam , Dessau , Zwickau , Plauen and Berlin . The largest assortment was made up of textiles and clothing, shoes, tools as well as household and electrical goods. Food and beverages were also sold in a separate department in the department stores. Product demonstrations were a special form of promotional advertising and customers were often invited to test a new kitchen appliance, for example.
From 1961 to 1975 there was the consumer mail order business, which was based as a consumer mail order company in what was then Karl-Marx-Stadt ( Chemnitz ). A separate trademark was used from 1961. Orders could be placed via catalog. The offer related, for example, to clothing, household appliances, furniture, toys, watches and books. The mail order catalogs always appeared in spring and autumn with a circulation of 800,000. But they were never enough. The mail order company was often unable to meet customer requirements. The suppliers and the mail order company with the production, delivery and storage capacities available at the time were no longer able to cope with the increasing orders.
Production facilities
The consumer retail chain included more than 150 companies, 28 of which were centrally managed by the VDK and in which everyday goods and consumer goods were manufactured. These were mainly bakery and meat processing companies. Of the centrally managed operations of importance here were the Konsum Gewürzmühle Schönbrunn , the Erfurt nutrient factory , the Röstfein coffee factory in Magdeburg, the Stützengrün brush factory, the Arnstadt large butcher, the Rötha large wine press, the Naumburg (Pinguin) clothing factory and the Riesa soap factory . As early as 1910, it was the first large new German consumer cooperative building for in-house production by the Großeinkaufs-Gesellschaft Deutscher Consumvereine (GEG), Hamburg , to start production in a modern large-scale operation. In 1923 a match factory was added at the same location. After the Second World War, the Soviet Union returned the operations of the Großeinkaufs-Gesellschaft Deutscher Consumvereine, which had previously been expropriated by the National Socialists without compensation.
Discount stamps and refunds
From 1954 onwards, the consumer shops issued discount stamps ( consumer brands ) for daily purchases , for which a refund was paid on the sales made. But there were exceptions. There were no sales brands, for example, for coffee, motor vehicles, musical instruments, arts and crafts or restaurant sales. Since the discount stamps were only given to members of the consumer cooperative, many GDR private households had at least one consumer member. According to the statute at the time, any citizen of the GDR from the age of 16 could become a member. A business share totaling 50 marks (GDR) had to be paid. In the first year you paid 25 marks. The remaining 25 marks were withheld from the reimbursement in the second year of membership. Family members of a member only paid 20 marks for their own membership. The sale of the discount stamps was in some cases quite generous to members. Since non-members could not request any stamps, the seller usually did not miss any sales stamps in the booklet. However, brand inventories were common.
The customer had to stick the discount stamps in a booklet and in January for the past year they gave them a receipt at the consumer outlet where they were listed as a member. In September the reimbursement was paid out there. That was mostly 1.5 to 1.7% of the turnover made and corresponded to an average of 150 marks. Usually a small donation for the solidarity was expected when the payment was made, but this was not a condition.
Today the consumer cooperatives still pay rebates and often a dividend on the deposits of their members.
The large consumer department stores were spun off into the new consumer chain on January 1, 1965 .
Consumption after 1990
Consumption in Dresden - 2018
Logo of the consumer cooperative Leipzig eG
Logo of the consumer cooperative Sachsen Nord eG
Grocery store of the consumer cooperative Hagenow eG in Gresse 2012
Since the consumer cooperatives were already private companies in the GDR and belonged exclusively to their approximately 4.5 million members, after 1990 they did not fall under the jurisdiction of the Treuhandanstalt .
For the East German consumer cooperatives, the day of reunification on October 3, 1990, the German cooperative law applied . After the fall of the Berlin Wall, these 198 consumer cooperatives merged to form 55 regional consumer cooperatives. Today there are still twelve regional consumer cooperatives that have established themselves in the market and of which ten (Altenburg, Burg-Genthin-Zerbst, Döbeln, Dresden, Erfurt, Hagenow, Haldensleben, Leipzig, Seehausen, Weimar) are members of the Zentralkonsum eG in Berlin. As a commercial enterprise, Zentralkonsum eG includes industrial companies, hotels as well as several service companies and commercial properties.
After the reunification , “Konsum” continued to exist as a brand name . In the eastern German states there are several regional cooperatives that operate branches under the name “Konsum”. In the region of Dresden itself has Konsum Dresden eG established itself as a retail chain and operates consumer fresh markets, Frida- and Genia stores. In September 2007 the first branch of Konsum Dresden eG was opened in the old federal states in Erlangen (but abandoned in 2012), the second branch followed in autumn 2008 in Nuremberg .
In the region of North Saxony, the consumer cooperative Sachsen Nord eG has also been able to establish itself in the tradition of the first German consumer cooperative since it was re-established in 1991 . After an insolvency in 2010, Markant nah & frisch GmbH took over the 27 remaining branches. It is mainly represented in the region of the cities of Eilenburg, Torgau and Wurzen. Most of the branches are located in rural areas. The cooperative itself is only active in real estate management.
The consumer Leipzig asserts itself within the city limits next to the large supermarket chains. However, the company management has decided to concentrate only on the markets in Central Germany and, at most, northern Bavaria for the time being.
The consumer cooperative "Optimal Kauf" in Haldensleben is mainly active in the Magdeburg region . It has 24 grocery stores with 170 employees and 13,700 cooperative members.
The consumer cooperative Hagenow (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania) with over 7700 members operates twelve grocery stores, five beverage stores and five non-food stores (textiles and shoes) in south-west Mecklenburg.
The consumer Berlin was continued in the eastern part of the city as a regional cooperative that took over in September 1990, the West Berlin chain Bolle , which was sold to the company Asco 1,992th In 2004 insolvency proceedings were opened against the cooperative, which is now mainly active in real estate management , after which it will continue in 2007.
literature
- Heinrich Kaufmann : The large purchasing company of German consumer associations mb H. GEG. For the 25th anniversary 1894–1919. Hamburg 1919.
- Heinrich Sierakowsky: Work in progress. 3. Edition. Self-published by the Großeinkaufs-Gesellschaft Deutscher Consumvereine mb H. Hamburg, Hamburg 1931.
- Walther G. Oschilewski : Will and Action. The way of the German consumer cooperative movement. Hamburg 1953.
- Wilhelm Fischer: 60 years of GEG. 60 years of consumer service. 1894-1954. Festschrift. Hamburg 1954, OCLC 37851209 .
- Burchard Bösche , Jan-Frederik Korf: Chronicle of the German consumer cooperatives. 150 years of consumer cooperatives in Germany. 100 years of the Central Association of German Consumer Cooperatives Hamburg 2003.
- Manfred Kirsch: The brands, please! Eulenspiegel-Verlag, Berlin 2004.
- Simone Tippach-Schneider : The great lexicon of GDR advertising. Verlag Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2004.
- Documentation Center for Everyday Culture of the GDR (Ed.): KONSUM. Consumer cooperatives in the GDR. Cologne / Weimar / Vienna: Böhlau Verlag 2006
Web links
- History of the consumer cooperative Berlin und Umgegend eG
- History of the Haldensleben district consumer cooperative
Individual evidence
- ↑ Manfred Kirsch - The stamps please! KONSUM stories - page 9 - Eulenspiegel Verlag 2004 - ISBN 3-359-01493-6
- ^ A b c Simone Tippach-Schneider: The large lexicon of GDR advertising. Verlag Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, Berlin 2004.
- ^ Marburg contributions to the cooperative system, Witho Holland, "The consumer cooperatives in the GDR"
- ↑ a b Manfred Kirsch: The stamps please! Eulenspiegel-Verlag, Berlin 2004.
- ^ Heinrich Kaufmann: The large purchasing company of German consumer associations mb H. GEG. For the 25th anniversary 1894–1919. Hamburg 1919.
- ^ Heinrich Sierakowsky: Work in progress. 3. Edition. Self-published by the Großeinkaufs-Gesellschaft Deutscher Consumvereine mbH, Hamburg 1931.
- ^ Wilhelm Fischer : 60 years against 60 years of service to the consumer. 1894-1954. Festschrift, Hamburg 1954. 362 pages.
- ↑ witho Holland: The consumer cooperatives in the GDR. (Marburg contributions to the cooperative system)
- ↑ Erlangen: Konsum gives up the Erlangen location - Erlangen - nordbayern.de , June 29, 2012, on nordbayern.de - accessed on July 8, 2017.
- ↑ Employee numbers of the consumer cooperative “Optimal Kauf” ( 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. . Retrieved November 2, 2012.
- ↑ Data from the consumer cooperative Hagenow eG , accessed on November 2, 2012.
- ↑ The "consumption" lives: - WORLD. Retrieved March 11, 2017 .
