Salzkammergut consumption
The Salzkammergut-consumption , full name: Konsumgenossenschaft Salzkammergut regGenmbH , was up to its bankruptcy petition on May 23, 2011, the final consumer cooperative in Upper Austria . As a result of this company collapse, the number of consumer cooperatives active in Austria was reduced to ten.
history
The local consumer cooperatives 1868–1945
Salzkammergut-Konsum was founded in 1868, when some saltworks and forest workers met in Hallstatt on January 6th to set up the workers' consumer association in Hallstatt . The basic idea was to improve the economic situation of the workforce in the inner Salzkammergut . In the course of the same year consumer associations in Goisern, Ebensee and Ischl started their operations.
From 1875 onwards, Konsum supplied Obertraun and in 1912 a shop was added in Traunkirchen, supplemented in 1927 with the takeover of the delivery point in St. Wolfgang. In the beginning, the sale of goods was only allowed to registered members, so there was no casual customer business. With the transformation of Austria into a corporate state (1934), the prohibition law put an end to the establishment of further consumer shops. The connection brought further restrictions, finally in 1943 the dissolution of the consumer cooperatives in the Salzkammergut and the handover of the property to the German labor front.
The district cooperative 1945–1999
In 1945 the functionaries agreed not to reactivate the local consumer associations, but to set up a "Salzkammergut consumer cooperative" based in Bad Goisern, which from then on ran all consumer goods, then still known as delivery points , in the municipalities of the judicial district of Bad Ischl and parts of the Gmunden judicial district. As early as 1954, the company was financially so well equipped that it was able to buy a house in the center of Bad Ischl that not only offered food, but also had departments for textile, household and iron goods. The self-service era began in 1960, and all branches were converted by the middle of the decade, and a new central warehouse began operating in Bad Goisern, replacing the small magazines spread across the district.
In the 1970s, the company built three consumer markets in Bad Goisern, Bad Ischl and Ebensee; the name Markt indicated a sales area between 800 m² and 1,000 m². In the same period the KGM - Konsum wholesale market opened in Bad Ischl Sulzbach, which with a total area (including 300 parking spaces) of 5,200 m² represented the largest sales unit of the cooperative and generated very good profits in the first few years. 1977/78 was a "year of merger" for many consumer cooperatives in Austria; efforts were made to unite all businesses in Austria to form "Konsum Österreich". At a meeting of all officials, expanded to include the mayors of the catchment communities, the decision was made to remain independent. At that time, more than a dozen cooperatives refused to be included in the central consumption , so the Ausseerland consumption , the Abtenau consumption and some consumer associations in Vorarlberg remained independent.
In the 1980s and 1990s, smaller locations were closed and existing facilities were adapted. As of the end of 1993, Salzkammergut-Konsum had branches in Bad Goisern (2 locations), Bad Ischl (6 ×), Ebensee (3 ×), Gosau (2 ×), Hallstatt (2 ×), Obertraun , Traunkirchen , Strobl , St. Wolfgang in the Salzkammergut , Russbach am Pass Gschütt , Annaberg-Lungötz (2 ×). In the period from 1966 to 1991 the number of branches had decreased from 38 to 22, in return the total sales area increased from 2,066 m² to 11,743 m², which means that the average sales area per branch increased by 54 m² 529 m². This was also reflected in the total sales figures, which were reported at 243 million schillings in 1977 and around 500 million schillings in 1991.
In 1995 there was a turning point from which even this cooperative should not recover in the medium term . Consumption Austria announced compensation. On the one hand, this caused damage to its image, after all, the consumer bankruptcy was present in the media for weeks, and on the other hand, the economic exchange with its big brother collapsed. The flow of goods went in both directions, Konsum Austria also supplied the independent Konsum with its own brands (Knäbchen chocolate, coop rum, Herrenhaus Wein, etc.) and obtained flour deliveries from the Konsum-Mühle in Bad Goisern.
Finally, the shop fitting and branch design were also carried out with the support of the large cooperative, which is why a normal consumer could practically only see on the receipt whether he was making his purchase in Konsum Austria or an independent consumer. For this reason, customers also migrated in the Salzkammergut, because here too many assumed that consumption would go bankrupt. The countermeasures on the part of the management were very limited, in 1996 a new logo was presented for the leaflets and the branches, the "overhead area", i.e. central administration, vehicle fleet and central magazine, was not touched. In combination with the further penetration of aggressive competitors into the inner Salzkammergut, this continuously led to a deterioration in the economic situation.
The ADEG partner 1999–2011
Only when external consultants and a new management team took up their duties at the beginning of 1999 did more far-reaching reforms take place. The purchase of goods and logistics were handed over to ADEG , the KGM shopping center was renamed several times and functioned successively as the ADEG center, Edeka center and magnet, and all shops received a modern merchandise management system. The five specialist clothing stores and all hardware departments in the consumer markets were closed.
In the last decade of its existence, Salzkammergut consumption concentrated again on expanding the branch network. The KGM-ADEG-Center, which was run as a franchise operation for a few years, was bought by the partner, who in return provided some ADEG and Contra business outside of the traditional area of activity. For this reason the company also operated for some time in the communities of Frankenburg am Hausruck , Mondsee , St. Georgen im Attergau and Pinsdorf , and the independent consumer cooperative Abtenau reg.Gen.mbH took over the consumer market in Abtenau by means of a lease.
In the end, these newcomers did not bring the hoped-for profit. The last few years of its existence were marked by branch closings and corresponding staff reductions. The phenomenon that can already be observed in consumption in Austria, that real estate is sold and immediately rented back, was also seen in the Salzkammergut. At the time of filing for bankruptcy, only 2 of the former 20 houses should be owned by the cooperative.
The bankruptcy 2011
In the last year of the portfolio, 140 of the 400 employees (1993) were still active, the branch structure has been reduced from over 20 to 11 shops in the municipalities of Bad Goisern (2 ×), Bad Ischl (3 ×), Gosau, Obertraun , Hallstatt, Ebensee, Annaberg and Lungötz were operated. The balance sheet data also showed a clear picture: while in 1991 (converted to euros) sales were still around 36.3 million, in 2007 they were 20.9 million and finally in 2010 only 15.7 million euros. The number of members of the cooperative also experienced a downturn: at the 125th anniversary in 1993 it was over 9,000, in 2011 only around 3,000 were able to show a consumer membership card.
After not even enough money could be raised for the business through massive property sales, the foreseeable end finally came on May 23, 2011, when a bankruptcy petition was filed with the regional court in Wels. The eleven consumer branches were divided between the Pfeiffer group (Unimarkt, Nah & Frisch) and the Rewe subsidiary ADEG AG as follows:
- Unimarkt took over the Bad Goisern consumer market as a branch in July 2011.
- ADEG acquired the consumer locations in Gosau, Ebensee and Bad Ischl (Haiden). After renovation and new construction work on the properties, these were leased to Adeg merchants.
- Nah & Frisch secured the consumer branches in Bad Goisern (St. Agatha), Obertraun, Hallstatt, Bad Ischl (Auböckplatz), Bad Ischl (Kaltenbach), Annaberg and Lungötz. Independent merchants were contracted by wholesaler Pfeiffer for these transactions.
Another aspect of this bankruptcy is the cooperative liability of 145 euros for each of the approximately 3,000 members. In contrast to the liquidation of the big brother Konsum Österreich in 1995, in which no liability case occurred, at the beginning of December 2011 the trustee was forced to send a request for payment to the members of the cooperative in the Salzkammergut. According to media reports, not only the employees but also many old customers, minimum pensioners and nursing home residents are affected, but at the same time the retail chain Unimarkt has announced a support campaign for those affected in the form of vouchers. Some of these requests have been made to addressees who have already died; in this case, the heirs have to pay because shares in the cooperative are inheritable.
Subsidiary SBFG
The SBFG Salzkammergut Back- und Fleischwaren GmbH , based in Bad Goisern, was a production and supplier company for Salzkammergut-Konsum and for a few decades also for the neighboring cooperative in Bad Aussee. The production division was almost as old as the cooperative itself. A bakery was built in Bad Goisern as early as 1873, a year later - also in Goisern - a mill was bought and finally in 1884 a butcher's shop started. From 1969 on, all production facilities except for the mill were outsourced with the participation of Ausseerland-Konsum . At the end of the 1990s he sold his shares and SBFG became a 100% subsidiary of Konsum Salzkammergut. The company provided 50 jobs, supplied around 80 major customers in the region, from inns to hospitals, and also food stores, for example the Ausseerland university stores.
In May 2011, the SBFG went bankrupt with the consumption, the butcher shop was closed, the rest was initially continued by the trustee. In August, the bakery was bought by a Bad Ischl entrepreneur, who took over the customer base and 18 employees under the name SKG Backwaren und Lebkuchen GmbH .
The designation of the baked goods subsequently “survived” the decline of consumption. Also currently (as of 2016) will continue to be the successor company SKG pastries and gingerbread GmbH products as consumption of bread and from the consumption Bakery offered to arise. In the wholesale trade, a large number of the contractual partners for consumption have been retained; retirement homes, inns, hospitals, hotels and boarding schools are supplied. The retail trade takes place in around 20 shops, more than half of which are former branches of Salzkammergut Consumer (Nah & Frisch, Adeg) and Ausseerland Consumer (Unimarkt).
See also
literature
- Johann Brazda , Siegfried Rom (Ed.): 150 Years of Consumer Cooperatives in Austria. Vienna 2006.
- The board of directors of the Salzkammergut consumer cooperative (publisher): 125 years of consumption in the Salzkammergut 1868 - 1993. Bad Goisern 1993.
- Peter Voithofer, Ernst Gittenberger (ed.): The Austrian trade 2005: data-fact-analyzes. Frankfurt / Main 2006, ISBN 3-631-55173-8 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Company register query, search terms: "Konsumverband, Revisionsverband", section: ACTIVE (examination) functions of the association, printed on August 5, 2011
- ↑ a b c d e Board of the Salzkammergut Consumer Cooperative (Ed.): 125 Years of the Salzkammergut Consumer Cooperative 1868 - 1993 , Bad Goisern 1993
- ↑ Retail: Consumption invests in the Salzkammergut (Wirtschaftsblatt from June 1, 1999, accessed on August 6, 2011)
- ↑ Daily shopping in the "Association" ( memento of the original from December 20, 2005 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. (Handelszeitung from March 31, 2005, accessed on August 1, 2011)
- ↑ Consumption bankruptcy: The Inner Salzkammergut is losing a piece of identity Salzkammergut Rundblick from May 30, 2011, accessed on August 10, 2011
- ↑ The last consumption is insolvent ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Upper Austrian news of May 24, 2011, accessed August 10, 2011)
- ↑ Unimarkt now also in Bad Goisern (Marktgemeindeamt Bad Goisern, July 28, 2011, accessed on November 25, 2015)
- ↑ Ebenseer municipal council decides to specialize in the specialty store center at the Salinenareal ( memento of the original from June 7th, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Regional newspaper Tips from March 13, 2012, accessed on August 23, 2012)
- ↑ Opening of the Ebensee retail park with Adeg, Bipa and Penny ( memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Homepage of Adeg AG, accessed on February 12, 2013
- ↑ Only eight branches should survive consumer bankruptcy (Oberösterreichische Nachrichten of July 22, 2011, accessed on August 1, 2011)
- ↑ Konsum members have to pay "Why exactly before Christmas?" (Upper Austrian news from December 1, 2011, accessed December 3, 2011)
- ↑ Heirs of Konsum members have to pay (Oberösterreichische Nachrichten dated December 2, 2011, accessed on December 3, 2011)
- ↑ Festschrift "125 years of consumption in the Salzkammergut 1868 - 1993", Bad Goisern 1993
- ^ Off for the last consumption (Kleine Zeitung of July 21, 2011, accessed on August 7, 2011)
- ↑ How the master builder Josef >> Sepp << Zeppetzauer became a baker (Oberösterreichische Nachrichten of July 20, 2011, accessed on August 1, 2011)
- ↑ Sales outlets for consumer bread and consumer pastries. SKG Backwaren & Lebkuchen GmbH, December 1, 2015, accessed on April 24, 2016 .
