XXXLutz

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XXXLutz KG

logo
legal form KG
founding 1945 (legal form 2009)
Seat Wels , Austria
management Günther Gruber, Andreas Seifert, Alois Kobler
Number of employees 25,700 (2020)
sales € 5.1 billion
Branch Furniture retail
Website xxxlgroup.com

Würzburg, sculpture: the red chair

The XXXLutz group is an Austrian furniture store chain .

history

Lutz branch in Vienna, 1995

The company was founded in 1945 by Richard Seifert and his wife Gertrude (née Lutz) in Haag am Hausruck . Over the years, the production company and sales department for craftsmanship developed into a steadily growing furniture dealer . In 1973 the company, which operated as Lutz until 1999 , began its expansion . Over the past few decades, an average of six new furniture stores have been opened each year.

XXXLutz has been Austria's largest furniture retailer in terms of turnover and sales area since 2003. The company had 8,000 employees and a turnover of 1.25 billion euros (the market volume of the entire Austrian furniture trade this year was around 4 billion euros). In Europe's Top 500 by GrowthPlus , the group was among the 20 fastest-growing companies in Europe.

In 2005, numerous new openings and takeovers and investments made the company the second largest furniture retailer in the world, according to its own statements.

In 2010 the company opened its first location in Malmö, Sweden , the home country of competitor IKEA .

For the first time in its history, the company closed a location in Munich on October 7, 2013.

In February 2016 the Hiller barracks in Linz- Ebelsberg was sold to a private foundation from the XXXLutz Group for 41 million euros. 1,000 apartments are to be built on the site.

XXXLutz has been working with the US investor CD&R ( Clayton, Dubilier & Rice ) in France since 2016 as part of a 50/50 partnership and has since jointly operated the furniture retail chain But with 302 branches and 2 billion euros in sales.

On April 3, 2018, the first XXXLutz branch in Switzerland was officially opened in Rothrist . The Pfister Group was taken over in 2019 . In November 2019 it was announced that the XXXLutz Group is taking over six Interio branches in Switzerland and converting them into Mömax branches.

On July 8, 2020, XXXLutz took over the French furniture retail chain Conforama through the French subsidiary But. But only the Conforama branches in France. With sales of over 2 billion euros and 162 furniture stores, Conforama France is number 2 in the French furniture market, but number 3.

Corporate structure

XXXLutz at Theresienhöhe in Munich

Since 2009, the operational headquarters of the Lutz Group has been XXXLutz KG , based in Wels , which is in the hands of two private foundations (also through the general partner XXXLutz Verwaltungs GmbH ). The entire international group now operates under the name XXXLutz Group or XXXL Group .

Brands and parts of companies

In 2017 the group of companies operates with the brands XXXLutz, Mömax , Möbelix , XXXL Neubert, XXXL Hiendl, XXXL Pallen, XXXL Rück, XXXL Emslander, XXXL Bierstorfer, XXXL Mann Mobilia , XXXL Sparkauf , XXXL Gamerdinger , XXXL Gamma , XXXL Lesnina and Aleksandro Furniture stores in Austria, Germany, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Sweden, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia and Switzerland.

Logo of the Mömax brand belonging to XXXLutz
Logo of the XXXLutz brand Möbelix

The Lutz group of companies includes the furniture stores Mann Mobilia and the furniture discounter Mömax and Möbelix . In 2000, the furniture store Neubert with its branches in Würzburg (existing for over 140 years and re-established as Möbel-Neubert in the Heidingsfeld district after the Second World War) and Hirschaid , the Karstadt furniture store in Munich in 2005 and Hiendl in June 2007 Furniture stores based in Passau, which had seven other stores in southern Germany. Other companies (ownership or shares) are or were Möbel Engelhardt , Möbel Krügel , Domain (2005–2007), Möbel Bierstorfer , Emslander in Landshut (2008), Europamöbel . In 2017 the branch in Bopfingen will be opened in the former Möbel Mahler premises. In 2008 the group took over two Sconto furniture discounters in Hungary. In 2010 the furniture chain Lesnina, which is active in Southeast Europe, was taken over.

Since 2008, half of the German furniture chain Poco has been owned by XXXLutz. In 2017 XXXLutz took over Möbel Buhl in Fulda. In April 2018, the 50 percent stake in the Steinhoff retail group was acquired for 266 million euros. The 123 furniture stores with almost 8,000 employees generate total sales of 1.6 billion euros.

distribution

The group of companies sells its products mainly through the stationary trade. It currently operates a total of 248 furniture stores, mainly in Austria. The central warehouse is located in Sattledt .

Branches
Distribution channel Trade type  AT   DE   CH   CZ   HU   SE   SK   SI   MR   RO 
XXXLutz Furniture store ( full range supplier ) 46 45 01 03 0- 01 0- 0- 0- -
Mömax Furniture store (cheaper sales line) 10 33 0- 0- 09 0- 0- 04th 02 02
Möbelix Furniture discounter 48 0- 0- 06th 07th 0- 05 0- 0- -
XXXL Bierstorfer Furniture store (full range supplier) 0- 01 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- -
XXXL Dodenhof Furniture store (full range supplier) 0- 02 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- -
XXXL man Mobilia Furniture store (full range supplier) 0- 07th 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- -
XXXL gamer thing Furniture store (full range supplier) 0- 01 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- -
XXXL Hiendl Furniture store (full range supplier) 0- 03 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- - -
XXXL Kröger Furniture store (full range supplier) 0- 01 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- -
XXXL back Furniture store (full range supplier) 0- 03 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- -
XXXLutz Sonneborn Furniture store (full range supplier) 0- 02 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- -
XXXL carpenter /
express carpenter
Furniture store (full range supplier) 0- 02 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- -
XXXL Lesnina Furniture store (full range supplier) 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- 10 9 0-
XXXL Neubert Furniture store (full range supplier) 0- 03 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- -
Bono Furniture discounter from XXXL Neubert 0- 02 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- -
There & with Furniture take-away market from XXXL Neubert 0- 02 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- -
Ambience Sales areas for premium brands 09 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- 0- -

Company figures and competition

According to its own advertising claims, the group is one of the largest furniture retailers in the world and generated sales of € 5.1 billion.

The largest competitors in Austria are the Kika-Leiner Group ( Kika , Leiner ) and IKEA .

Personnel policy

Number of employees in the XXXLutz Group 1977–2009

In the middle of 2006 the group of companies had around 15,500 employees. This sum, which according to company information rose to 16,000 employees in the course of the year, represents an increase of 3.32% compared to the previous year. In the middle of 2009, the number of employees was 16,500 and the number of apprentices to 1,800. At the end of 2017, the group had 21,500 employees, including 1,900 apprentices.

criticism

In Germany , XXXLutz is heavily criticized by employee interest groups, such as the Verdi union, with regard to corporate policy . Basically it is criticized that the corporate network consists of a network of companies to which on the one hand the personnel is outsourced and on the other hand the profits are centralized.

In detail, it involves obstructing works councils , exceeding working hours and intimidating employees. There was also a lawsuit by a trainee who was dismissed despite special dismissal protection under the severely disabled person's law. However, the judgment of the 1st instance against XXXLutz did not become final. A settlement did not lead to a decision by a higher court.

Munich case

After site closure in October 2013 Munich all 160 employees were immediately released , the final clearance sale until November 30, 2013, conducted with employees from other branches.

Until August 2014, no social plan had been agreed and no severance payments were made to the dismissed. Under corporate law , the parent company would be obliged to do so, but the limited liability company , to which the personal companies of individual branches are subject, denies these obligations. The head of the arbitration board initially proposed 2.5 million euros as a settlement amount, but then voted against his own proposal after representatives of the employer had offered a significantly lower amount.

Mannheim case

On February 1, 2016, 99 employees who worked in the central warehouse of XXXL Mann Mobilia in Mannheim-Vogelstang were denied access to the workplace by security forces. The employees received a document that they were released from work.

Taxes

XXXLutz also came under fire for a tax-saving model. The individual group companies were invoiced for licenses by XXXLutz Marken GmbH , based in Malta , which meant that profits were shifted from countries with higher tax rates to Malta, where profits would theoretically have been taxed at 35 percent corporation tax, but actually only at 5 percent due to refunds . In Austria, corporate income tax was 34 percent until the 2004/2005 tax reform, and 25 percent thereafter. The Greens presented in 2014 a parliamentary question to Minister of Finance Hans Jörg Schelling for Steuerentfall for Austria by the company constructing XXXLutz through its subsidiary in Malta. The minister gave no information about this and invoked the duty of confidentiality. Schelling was managing director of XXXLutz GmbH from 1992 to 2005 and on the supervisory board from 2005 to 2011.

Commercials

In January 2018, a commercial for the furniture chain Mömax caused a stir in which a twelve-year-old girl said she was having sex with her teacher. This led to massive criticism in social networks and complaints to the advertising council. Austrian child protection centers criticized the fact that the abuse of minors and its consequences are trivialized and presented as normal or nothing special. "Sexual relationships between teachers and students are a reportable crime, not a publicity stunt."

XXXLutz restaurant

In July 2020, the "XXXL-cheap schnitzel" campaign in Austria, in which a schnitzel from pork or chicken with a side dish was offered for only 2.50 euros, was criticized by farmers and animal rights activists as "total disgrace".

marketing

Advertising symbol in Brunn (2013)

range

The core range comprises around 45,000 products. In addition to furniture of all types and styles , the company also sells home textiles , curtains, baby items, lights , floor coverings, oriental rugs, gift items, housewares and home accessories .

In addition to topic and season-specific brochures, XXXLutz publishes a main catalog once a year. The 2005/2006 edition had a circulation of 3.1 million copies.

Pricing policy

With its various sales channels and brands, the group offers target group-specific product ranges at appropriate prices and thus tries to cover the entire range of furniture retail segments.

advertising

The message of the company in Germany is: "At XXXLutz everything is XXXL" and in Austria "The XXXLutz, what he has." The brand slogan XXXL is intended for the architecture, the locations, the services, the range as well as for the communication and the Actions apply.

The advertising concept made the XXXLutz brand the most famous furniture retail brand in Austria. According to a representative market survey for Austria by Makam Market Research GmbH in 2003, when asked, "Please tell me which furniture shops you know - at least by name?" 98% XXXLutz and Kika, 96% Leiner and 94% Ikea.

Family Putz (2019)

In Austria, the company has been advertising with the Putz family since 1999 , who initially appeared in sitcom- style commercials . Since the start of the campaign, the Putz family concept and its implementation have polarized.

In 2004 the red chair (referred to as armchair in Austria ) was introduced as an advertising logo. This also earned the company an entry in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest chair in the world.

The group of companies is supported by the Viennese agency Demner, Merlicek & Bergmann . In 2004 they received the State Prize for Marketing for their advertising concept .

literature

Web links

Commons : XXXLutz  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. XXXLutz. xxxlgroup.com, accessed June 26, 2020 .
  2. a b XXXLutz. xxxlgroup.com, accessed June 26, 2020 .
  3. XXXL story
  4. a b c The XXXLutz image brochure 2017 (PDF) accessed on August 6, 2018 (PDF)
  5. XXXLutz leads in terms of turnover and sales area . boerse-express.com
  6. XXXLutz among Europe's 20 fastest growing companies . pressetext.at
  7. Gilth Serano: XXXLutz: As of now the second largest furniture retailer in the world .
  8. XXXLutz is now invading Ikea land . In: Salzburger Nachrichten . October 26, 2010, Wirtschaft, p. 15 ( article archive ).
  9. XXXLutz on Theresienhöhe closes in: Münchner Merkur-Online from October 7, 2013
  10. orf.at - XXXLutz Group buys Hiller barracks . Article dated February 11, 2016, accessed February 11, 2016.
  11. XXXLutz takes over French Conforama. In: orf.at. July 8, 2020, accessed July 8, 2020 .
  12. «The beautiful XXXLutz»: furniture store is ready for opening In: aargauerzeitung.ch , March 24, 2018, accessed on March 25, 2018.
  13. Something like the Austrian furniture big bang - the XXXLutz is open . In: az Aargauer Zeitung . ( aargauerzeitung.ch [accessed on August 20, 2018]).
  14. Sale to Austria - XXXLutz Group takes over Möbel Pfister. In: srf.ch . October 23, 2019, accessed October 23, 2019 .
  15. Leo Eiholzer: “Interio” brand disappears: XXXLutz continues to expand after buying furniture from Pfister. Luzerner Zeitung , November 29, 2019, accessed on November 29, 2019 .
  16. XXXLutz takes over French Conforama. In: orf.at. July 8, 2020, accessed July 8, 2020 .
  17. a b XXXLutz KG . Creditreform / firmenabc.at
  18. xxxlgroup.com
  19. xxxlgroup.com: Image brochure (PDF)
  20. Pallen living space. In: xxxlutz.de. Retrieved May 7, 2018 .
  21. website .
  22. Rolf-Ulrich Kunze : Würzburg 1945-2004. Reconstruction, modern city. In: Ulrich Wagner (Hrsg.): History of the city of Würzburg. 4 volumes, Volume I-III / 2 (I: From the beginnings to the outbreak of the Peasant War. 2001, ISBN 3-8062-1465-4 ; II: From the Peasant War 1525 to the transition to the Kingdom of Bavaria 1814. 2004, ISBN 3 -8062-1477-8 ; III / 1–2: From the transition to Bavaria to the 21st century. 2007, ISBN 978-3-8062-1478-9 ), Theiss, Stuttgart 2001–2007, Volume III (2007), Pp. 318-346 and 1292-1295; here: p. 340.
  23. XXXlutz takes over Möbel Emslander . pressetext.at
  24. Schwäbische Zeitung: XXXLutz opens in Bopfingen - Schwäbische. In: schwaebische.de. June 19, 2017. Retrieved April 13, 2019 .
  25. XXXLutz Group takes over Sconto Hungary. In: moebelmarkt.de. January 14, 2008, accessed May 11, 2018 .
  26. XXXLutz takes over Lesnina. In: derstandard.at. July 28, 2010, accessed May 11, 2018 .
  27. XXXLutz takes over Buhl. In: Lauterbacher Anzeiger . Retrieved December 2, 2018 .
  28. XXXLutz grabs: Steinhoff sells Poco , n-tv.de, on April 25, 2018
  29. xxxlutz.de facts , accessed on December 21, 2017
  30. Sattledt
  31. a b XXXLutz catalog 2006/2007 . pressetext.at
  32. a b c d e f g h i j xxxlutz.de branches in Germany , accessed on January 2, 2019
  33. moemax.de , accessed on August 7, 2017
  34. moemax.hu
  35. ♥ mömax ♥ acasă în trend mömax. Retrieved May 12, 2020 .
  36. Ambience. In: xxxlutz.at. Retrieved April 10, 2018 .
  37. Data and facts . ( Memento from September 24, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) XXXLutz
  38. 530 new apprentices start their training . XXXLutz
  39. XXXLutz is looking for 650 new apprentices for 2018 with immediate effect. Press release. In: pressetext.com. December 29, 2017. Retrieved April 26, 2018 .
  40. complaint against XXXLutz - Extra Large anger . Southgerman newspaper
  41. Serious allegations against XXXLutz . diepresse.com, Germany .
  42. Controversy: Mega working hours and XXL sales pressure - From the lousy job in the furniture store ( Memento from September 27, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) br-online
  43. Lutz employees vent their anger in: Münchner Merkur-Online from October 12, 2013
  44. ^ Rhein-Neckar-Fernsehen
  45. Andreas Schnauder: Lutz: XXX tax saving model. In: derstandard.at. February 10, 2014, accessed May 22, 2018 .
  46. diepresse.com: XXXLutz saves taxes via the detour Malta . Article dated February 11, 2014, accessed February 11, 2016.
  47. ^ Salzburger Nachrichten: Schelling was silent at XXXLutz . Article dated November 25, 2014, accessed February 11, 2016.
  48. ^ Kurier: Saving taxes as a furniture manager: Schelling taciturn . Article dated November 26, 2014, accessed February 11, 2016.
  49. Massive criticism of Mömax: "This advertisement is a catastrophe" diepresse.com, accessed on January 16, 2018
  50. Animal rights activists criticize schnitzel with a side dish for 2.50 euros from July 30, 2020, in Orf.at
  51. XXXL-cheap schnitzel: Animal rights activists criticize “total junking” from July 30, 2020, in Bauernzeitung.at
  52. xxxlutz.at: FAQ
  53. Walter Huber: The Putz family lives at XXXLutz. Archived from the original on October 11, 2004 ; Retrieved January 25, 2013 .
  54. a b Clemens Coudenhove: Humor in XXXL. (PDF) Austrian Marketing Society, April 2005, archived from the original on February 20, 2009 ; Retrieved January 25, 2013 .
  55. Sector Basics Furniture Retailing in Austria 2005 . pressetext.at
  56. Sector Basics Furniture Retailing in Austria 2004 . pressetext.at
  57. Judith Lechner: Concern in the advertising family: Will Grandma Putz throw in the towel? In: The press . April 17, 2007, ZDB ID 126422-9 ( Concern in the advertising family: Will Grandma Putz throw in the towel? ( Memento from June 16, 2012 in the Internet Archive )).