Jack Wolfskin
Jack Wolfskin Outdoor Equipment GmbH & Co. KGaA is a company of U.S. private equity firm Blackstone and provides functional clothing, outdoor equipment (such as backpacks and tents ) and shoes. The company is headquartered in Idstein im Taunus claims to be one of the largest suppliers of outdoor equipment and the largest and most successful franchisor in the German specialist sports retail market. The products are offered in many European countries. General partner of a partnership limited by shares ( KGaA), is the Skyrager GmbH, also based in Idstein.
History
Jack Wolfskin was founded in 1981 as a private label company Sine in Frankfurt -Nied from Hanau Ulrich Dausien. With the increasing success Jack Wolfskin was then separated from Sine and an independent company. In 1991 the company was sold to Johnson Outdoors ( inter alia the rights to Scubapro ).
Jack Wolfskin supplied only retailers, to 1993, opened its first own shop in Heidelberg. Further openings followed throughout Europe, such as in Austria (1995 ), Switzerland (2000 ), Belgium and Finland ( 2003), UK ( 2005), Luxembourg, Italy, and Russia ( 2009). Since 2009, expansion into Asia is pursued with shops in Korea and China. Meanwhile, there are over 600 Jack Wolfskin stores (as of mid 2012), 245 of them in Germany ( mid-2012 ). Almost all are operated on a franchise system.
In August 1997, the company Morfelden moved to Idstein, where it is headquartered today. In 2001, the private equity firm Bain Capital Jack Wolfskin Johnson Outdoors for 42 million euros. Jack Wolfskin has since been trading as Jack Wolfskin GmbH & Co. KGaA equipment for Outdoor. 2005 sold Bain Capital Jack Wolfskin for 93 million euros in the two financial investors Quadriga Capital and Barclays Private Equity.
Sold in 2011, these two owners and the former managing director and co-owner Manfred Hell the company to be incurred in previous years under the locusts debate U.S. private equity firm Blackstone on. The purchase price agreed upon buyer and seller according to the information confidential. Industry experts expect a retail price of around 700 million euros; Light is said to have received 57 million for his share. Blackstone will help the company to grow internationally. Manfred Hell left for personal reasons and with immediate effect, the company - after nearly 25 years at the helm.
According to information from industry experts, the acquisition was - as usual with private equity companies - primarily financed with debt. To this end, Blackstone had applied over the big banks, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, UBS and IKB German industrial bank placed with investors a further loan of 500 million euros. Since interest rates for the predominantly bullet loans from Jack Wolfskin are to be made, the company's debt has risen accordingly and now higher than sales.
Corporate Responsibility
In November 2004, the Stiftung Warentest tested 14 trekking jackets and asked the company whether the function jackets are fair, socially and environmentally correct produced. The manufacturer Jack Wolfskin and Lowe Alpine refusing to participate.
The products from Jack Wolfskin are mostly produced in Vietnam and Thailand.
In July 2007, Jack Wolfskin took over the patronage for the ICE Youth Camp, a UNEP initiative for young people for an environmentally conscious behavior and economical use of resources, in collaboration with Arved Fuchs.
Since 1 July 2010, Jack Wolfskin is a member of the Fair Wear Foundation, a multi-stakeholder initiative, which controls the working and production conditions at the suppliers and producers through so-called audits and certified. When Jack Wolfskin since 2008, there is already a supplier monitoring; 2009 Jack Wolfskin was informed that the membership would be examined in a multi -stakeholder initiative. Then, when the Clean Clothes Campaign, together with the respective country representatives (D: Christian Initiative Romero, CH: Berne Declaration, A: South Wind ) distributed in both 2009 and 2010 questionnaires on labor and production conditions of outdoor manufacturers, Jack Wolfskin decided for membership in the Fair Wear Foundation; Background are the many similarities in the approach of the Fair Wear Foundation and implemented in 2008 by Jack Wolfskin system for monitoring social standards.
Together with Wolfgang Niedecken and World Vision Germany, the project was called " rebound" to life: a rehabilitation project to improve the living conditions of former child soldiers in Uganda. The aim of the project is to integrate those affected by various measures back into society.
The Swiss NGO Berne Declaration in 2010 compared through surveys and internet research at 77 fashion labels the standards of working conditions in production countries. Jack Wolfskin was thereby placed in the second-best category " Average " of five categories.
Legal disputes
In 2002, Jack Wolfskin procured before the Higher Regional Court of Hamburg a decision which forbids the newspaper taz to print merchandising products in the outdoor area with the taz - paw or embroider. This is true even if, besides the Paw of the words " the daily newspaper " means a unique allocation. The newspaper had already published in 1979 can be developed by the designer Roland Matticzk her paw logo, and it has since used regularly but not secured by trademark law. 1982 Jack Wolfskin had registered a trademark for its similar-looking animal paw. In July 2006 the newspaper was defeated again in a dispute over bath towels with paw and inscription before the Regional Court of Hamburg.
2008 Jack Wolfskin built on the edge of the nature reserve " Moore in Buxtehude " a 30,000 -square-foot logistics center in Neu Wulmstorf. The part is to be built had been part of the nature reserve and were reclassified as part of a road construction project as an expansion area of the industrial park. During construction it came with seven owners a lying there allotment that should be expropriated for the construction of an access road to differences.
2009 had charge admonish that use various paw prints such as cat's paws as a decorative element on their products, even if it is not about clothes Jack Wolfskin micro-entrepreneurs. Even five-membered paw footprints as those of the international community and Bear were affected, and the Dutch shipping Bear Wear clothes had temporarily suspended sales for Europe. Agreement was reached later by mutual agreement. In October 2009 it was announced that the company wants to force even hobbyists to give their consent to penalties of up to € 10,000 for a violation of their trademark rights. The company's image took damage from the Abmahnaktionen. After strong reactions in the media manager Manfred Hell explained a few days later that the company takes back the outspoken warnings and in the future the affected micro entrepreneurs will contact you directly in case of copyright infringement by Paw and paws logos, instead of letting them issue warnings about lawyers. It was also reimbursed the amount already paid part in at least one case.
As of September 2013, strained by Jack Wolfskin lawsuit against the production company SamFilm takes place, the five friends used a Paw View as logo of children's films, made up from the heel of one dog's paw and four fingerprints. Jack Wolfskin put a 2010 opposition to the trademark application failed attempts of the out of court settlement.
As part of Social Media Week in Berlin, the so-called Social Media Award " oskr " was awarded on February 2, 2010 for the first time. With this new award counterparty of the most famous social media controversy of the year as well as the underlying constructive controversy culture should be considered.
Criticism
In May 2012, the company was criticized to have collected with the German Nature Conservation award, the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation for promotional purposes. In this context, it was pointed out that cooperation also appears therefore inappropriate, as the company used per- and polyfluorinated chemicals in its products. These compounds used by almost all outdoor products manufacturers are, according to the Federal Environment Agency in nature hardly or not degradable and detectable even in the deep sea. Moreover, these are now also in the Arctic and the Antarctic measured substances called greenhouse.
Also by the environmental organization Greenpeace has been advised of the burden of nature through environmental and harmful pollutants in the outdoor equipment. According to Greenpeace is environmentally friendly and also weatherproof, breathable clothing available as an alternative.
Franchising
Besides Jack Wolfskin own flagship stores several medium and large operators of mono-brand stores have within the franchise system for Jack Wolfskin excelled: The Group Store operator JW GmbH from Cologne (24 branches) and the Doser Store KG from Burghausen ( eight branches ).