Thomann (retailer)
The Thomann is a family owned and was founded in 1954 in the village of stairs ( today part of the market Burgebrach, Bavaria ) by Hans Thomann sen. founded. With its online store for musician need, the Thomann Cyberstore, it is the best-selling music shop in Europe.
History
1954 - 1989 Establishment and expansion under Hans Thomann senior
The Treppendorfer Hans Thomann In 1954 his her previous occupation as a traveling musician, in the exercise of which he was employed, among others, in circuses, on and started his own business with his own music business. In Würzburg he studied trumpet. Despite its rural structure Hans Thomann had chosen a music store in its large rural home village. The late 1950s and in the 1960s he traveled around a lot in the area to do business with brass bands and musicians.
In the 1970s, the music business began to grow, so that more and more living rooms of the family's yard were converted into exhibition spaces. This was supported also by the emergence of new instruments such as the electronic organs, electric guitars and synthesizers. The remaking of living in business areas continued further, so that the former barn as light department and cardboard stock, and the former nursery was used as an office for bookkeeping in the 1980s. At this time Thomann also began with the establishment of recording studios, to 1989 Thomann had set up 24 studios in southern Germany, among others for broadcasters.
1990 - 1999 Executive Board by Hans Thomann Junior
In 1990, Hans Thomann took jun. the eldest son of the management from his father, who died in 2004. His four siblings then all worked in the family business and led, among other things, the areas of Accounting & EDP ( Elisabeth ) and shipping ( Gabi ). The known today prospectus Hot Deals were in 1992 sent to the then roughly 10,000 customers who came mostly from the region. Today the Hot Deals about 2,100 current offers and will include a monthly print run of 1,250,000 copies (as of 2007). The first music retailers in Germany Thomann opened its web site in 1996. Incoming e -mails were then printed out, placed in the departments and answered post. In the first year a turnover of DM 800,000 was generated through the website.
In 1997 a major expansion step was taken with the acquisition of the then largest German music mail order company Roadstar from Eisingen. The number of customers was thus more than doubled to just over 100,000. The present entrance was built in 1998 with the construction of the PA / light hall and new premises for the studio and drum department. The planning and realization of room acoustics for the show rooms with Ambiophonie needed two years. 1999 its own call center was built. Today ( 2013) leads Thomann two own call center with 40 employees, one for the German market and one for the other countries.
2000 to date: Internationalization
The publication of the Hot Deals in the UK in 2000 brought a music magazine that the Hot Deals resulted as a side dish, in distress, as it was boycotted by a number of English advertisers. Therefore, by the end of 2006, no British music magazine took on more ads from Thomann. 2001, 15 employees strong department Thomann Audio Professional for installation of audio and PA systems in theaters, town halls, museums, discos and similar buildings was established.
2003, a logistics center with 4800 m² was built with a capacity of 5400 packets per layer. The number of customers has roughly doubled since 2004 and currently stands at five million customers (as of June 2013).
In 2005 made the largest ever expansion measures. Thus, a container warehouse with over 10,000 pallet positions on a surface of 7700 m², a four-story office buildings and new exhibition spaces was built for the guitar, brass and string sections.
Corporate Structure
The Thomann is divided into three areas:
- Thomann - music store, warehouse and logistics center
- Thomann Dropship and Thomann - shipping area with about 1.3 million customers and Thomann.de Internet platform
- Thomann Audio Professional - Installation unit for major installations in theaters, stadiums, halls, etc.
Since the extensions in 2005, more than 25,000 items from the music spectrum are always in stock. More 4000 can be delivered within three business days, so that almost 30,000 items are always available at short notice.
The philosophy described marketing manager Sven Schoderböck against the Metal Hammer in 2007 as follows: " We are guided by our customers and strive to be a reliable partner for them This is extremely important in times when every time quickly. open a web site or can offer goods on Ebay. "
Own brands
The company operates several private labels. These include for example:
- Harley Benton ( plucked and bowed string instruments and accessories, guitar amps )
- Startone ( wind instruments, accordions, guitars, music stands )
- Lead Foot (stomp boxes )
- Millenium (drums, percussion and tripods )
- Stairville ( light effects)
- Swissonic (Audio Recorder)
- The box ( PA speakers )
- THE T.AKUSTIK ( insulation and absorber material)
- The t.amp ( amps )
- The t.mix ( Mixers )
- The t.bone (microphones, headphones)
- The t.racks (Rack Accessories )
- Thomann (various products )
- Thon ( Racks / Cases)
Awards
In the years 2004 and 2006, Thomann was as fast-growing medium-sized companies with the best price Bavaria 50 of the Bavarian Ministry of Economics awarded. In September 2010, Thomann received the award consignor of the Year awarded by the Federal Association of the German mail-order business, in May 2011 in Barcelona the Global E -Commerce Gold Award.