Jelmoli

Jelmoli is a well known department store a few meters from the Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich. It is the best known and was also long considered one of the most innovative department stores in Switzerland. The building is located on the Silk Alley.

Jelmoli

The company was founded in 1833 by Johann Peter Jelmoli Ciolina as a fashion shop in Zurich. Originally a home business, a property was purchased at the Schipfe, directly on the Limmat river. With the then novel concept of " fixed " prices, which was no more haggling and to which in 1834 the clients were provided in the city and surrounding area, Jelmoli quickly grew into one of the best and most successful addresses in Zurich approach.

Following the success of the descendants of Johann Peter Jelmoli planned from the mid-1880s expansion. The company was founded in 1896 converted into a corporation to be incorporated ( from 1899 Grands Magasins Jelmoli SA) capital for the construction of a new warehouse. The shipping business was dissolved in 1897 with the first mail-order catalog for the first time from the previous " retail store with shipping ."

The new store was designed as a " glass palace " Parisian model ( " Grands Magasins ") and has become the new headquarters of Jelmoli. The construction was begun in 1898 at the site of the former silk farms - reminiscences are Seidengasse and the colloquial name for the Seidenhof Jelmoli main business - which could be completed in 1899, with the opening of the glass palace with 72 employees.

Gradually, the main business in the years 1931-1938, 1947 and 1958-1961 was further expanded, this created a new annex building, forming a closed perimeter block courtyard with the glass palace. Since the annex building, which includes a striking tower, it is clearly distinguishable from the Glass Palace in the architectural style, the building presents itself with two very different faces. In the context of conversions has also created by razing a block edge with a triangular base of Steinmühleplatz under which meanwhile the Jelmoli parking garage is that had an affiliated aboveground Shell station. To also Jelmoli belonging, newly created commercial property Steinmühleplatz / Sihlstraße / St. Anna -Gasse an enclosed pedestrian bridge for the staff was created; The property hosts including the Hiltl, Switzerland 's oldest vegetarian restaurant.

For the expansion of the Grands Magasins Jelmoli SA to a department store chain in 1952, the shopping center group Jelmoli AG was founded, which built a logistics system for the supply of stores. The expansion began in 1954 with the opening of the first branch in Zurich Oerlikon; it was followed by a good 50 more Jelmoli department stores in the rest of Switzerland. In the French-speaking Jelmoli expanded in 1963 through the acquisition of department stores innovation in Lausanne and Geneva Au Grand Passage. In 1968 the shopping center together the management of the stores in the new warehouse and logistics center in Otelfingen, which for Western Switzerland a second bearing center was incorporated in Lausanne Sébeillon.

The diversification of the department store group began in 1972 with the construction of Jelmoli travel, the restaurant chain Molino and founded together with the Terlinden group Terlinden - Jelmoli for dry cleaners. The Jelmoli Group reached its zenith in 1988 at a level of 231 locations, 5,200 employees and a turnover of CHF 1471 million.

A restructuring of the company, the slow dissuaded it from the core business, was started in 1989. The creation of a property division led to the closure of Jelmoli department stores and management of the property by the new real estate department. 1989, working in the travel industry Hans Imholz Holding AG was acquired and merged with Jelmoli travel to the Imholz Jelmoli Tourism Holding AG, whose travel agencies were conducted under Jelmoli as Imholz Reisen AG.

By Walter Fust took Jelmoli 1994 Fust AG with its headquarters in Buren, continuing to another shop that had little to do with the classic department store business. In the same year the Jelmoli Group and the decision was made to convert into a holding company; Mid-1995 was obtained from the Grands Magasins Jelmoli SA ( Germanized Jelmoli AG) Jelmoli Holding AG. The Jelmoli department store business was fully part of the Shopping Center Group Jelmoli AG, which changed its name to Jelmoli AG.

In the 1990s, sales and profits were in the department store business steadily declining since on the one hand with the new property management broke away the broad basis of Jelmoli department stores and on the other hand, a consumer slump was felt in all Swiss department stores. As a result of this development, Jelmoli drew 1995/1996 completely out of the department store business back and closed all stores except the traditional " glass palace " in Zurich. Thus, the logistics centers were unnecessary, however the majority of the traditional Jelmoli shipping was sold and the remaining Zurich mother house remodeled to compensate for the loss of the purchasing and warehouse logistics. Since 1997, it presents itself as a shop- in-shop Gallery under the slogan " The House of Brands ".

Jelmoli Holding

The conversion of the department store group in the Jelmoli Holding was difficult in the early years. Due to liquidity shortages and the threat of excessive debt you had in 1996 almost completely separate from the core business ( department store chain and shipping). The advantage of the situation took Walter Fust, who had his own company sold just two years earlier in Jelmoli and 1996, the majority in Jelmoli Holding acquired in 1997 and was Chairman of the Board.

Within the holding company establish two divisions retail and real estate, the former being constant changes is exposed.

For the combined shipping in the Jelmoli AG shipping business you entered into a collaboration with the German Heine Versand, where you sold the majority of shares of the subsidiary in 1996 to Heine.

When Imholz Reisen AG is entered into a collaboration with TUI (Suisse) and Vögele Reisen, who formed a joint venture under the name ITV ( Imholz - TUI - Vögele ). Jelmoli Holding sold its stake in ITV in 1999 that since 2000 once again called TUI (Suisse).

The Portable Shop Switzerland AG was acquired in 1998 and merged into the Fust 2003. The Rediffusion AG, who once ran the Zurich cable network and a consumer electronics chain was divided, with Cablecom took over the cable network. The rest of the company, however, was taken over in 2002 by the Jelmoli Holding and integrated into Fust - Fust was thus the exclusive distributor for Cablecom products.

1999 Jelmoli sold its 50 percent stake in the Terlinden - Jelmoli Textile Care AG to Terlinden Management AG.

In July 2006 a majority stake of 80% was purchased at the netto24 AG, www.preisinsel.ch under the two Internet domains and is www.netto24.ch engaged in online retail.

In May 2007, the Jelmoli Holding announced its intention, electronics and home appliances retailer Fust AG and its majority interest in the netto24 AG for approximately 990 million francs to Coop for sale - subject to approval by the Competition Commission. This strategy was confirmed to separate from the retail trade and to restrict themselves to the property management. The sale was completed with the approval of the Competition Commission in late November 2007.

To have the end of July 2007, the Jelmoli Holding AG announced their Swiss property for CHF 3.4 billion to an international consortium consisting of Igal Ahouvis Blenheim Properties, Delek Global Real Estate and Delek Belron International Ltd.. Sold. The consortium was also granted the option until the end of 2007, to acquire the Jelmoli House of Brands, the majority of Jelmoli Bonus Card AG and Jelmoli Service AG. Jelmoli should therefore be restructured as part of a strategic realignment to an investment company. As it turned out later, planned the buyer consortium to finance the purchase with loans. But as a result of the subprime crisis in mid- August 2007, the money and capital market de facto came to a standstill, the buyer consortium apparently expressed problems, the agreed purchase price of CHF 3.4 billion and raise demanded by Jelmoli a renegotiation of the price. The Israeli investors had in mind to force a discount of 10 % and reasoned that " converted realities in the financial market ." After several weeks of negotiations was Jelmoli end of October that the buyer of the property portfolio Jelmoli refuse enforcement. Early December 2007 led the Jelmoli Holding a lawsuit for breach of contract against the buyer consortium.

Majority shareholders of Jelmoli respectively Jelmoli Holding were from about 1940 the Ringier publishing family, from 1969 the Schweizerische Kreditanstalt, from 1977 UTC International, from 1996 to March 2009, Walter Fust and Georg von Opel, a representative of the Opel family.

Breakdown

After a several -year-long search for a strategic realignment and 2007 failed removal of the property, Jelmoli Holding decided in January 2009, finally, to split into two separate publicly traded companies - a real estate company and an investment company. The division of the former group was completed by the end of March 2009.

The real estate company, which continued to perform under the name Jelmoli Holding, included a real estate portfolio valued at around 3.2 billion Swiss francs. The retail business with the Jelmoli makes her second pillar. End of May 2009 sold the former majority shareholder of Jelmoli Holding, Georg von Opel, its still nearly 30 - percent share in the new Jelmoli Holding to the Swiss real estate company Swiss Prime Site (SPS ). These submitted in early June 2009 the remaining shareholders of a public exchange offer to acquire all publicly held Jelmoli shares.

After a slight improvement of the offer, the PLC controlled the end of October 2009, approximately 98 % of the Jelmoli voting rights, making the so-called squeeze-out procedure could be initiated. Officially titled as " fusion with Jelmoli », held the Jelmoli directors Christopher Chambers and Klaus Wake imprisoned in the PLC Board. With the merger agreement of 22 June 2010, the Jelmoli went to the PLC subsidiary "SPS investments Alpha AG » on, which Jelmoli Holding was deleted from the commercial register on 28 June 2010.

With resolution of Jelmoli Holding under the SPS to the end of May 2010, separated from the remaining 72.5 % interest in the " Jelmoli Bonus Card AG », founded in 2006, which was acquired by Valartis Group AG. The company at the Valartis been involved since the inception of 27.5 % was then renamed Valartis Bonus Card AG.

In the independent investment firm that acts as Athris holding that no longer the core business, investments Jelmoli Holding were introduced. These included those days in Switzerland, the Seiler Hotels Zermatt AG, the non-core business Jelmoli counting retail stores Molino (Restaurants), Beach Mountain ( sporting goods and clothing ) and mine ( clothing and non-food ) and real estate investments in Russia and Algeria. By the end of 2009 Athris was almost completely taken over by Georg von Opel Pelham Investments AG and delisted in January 2010 on the SIX again.