Business · Companies · 14 hrs ago
Neckermann’s rise and fall from catalogue giant to insolvency
Josef Neckermann founded his mail-order business in Frankfurt in 1950, selling clothes through a small catalogue.
Cheap prices and a growing range of goods helped it become a major retailer in West Germany, employing about 20,000 people by the mid-1970s.
The company’s growth ran into trouble, and Neckermann sold most of it to Karstadt in 1977.
The founder had profited from Nazi-era seizures of Jewish businesses, a history that became public decades later.
As online rivals such as Amazon weakened the catalogue model, the business was renamed Neckermann.de and sold to US investor Sun Capital, but Neckermann filed for insolvency in 2012.
Otto bought the brand rights and continued the online shop, which closed in 2021.
Creditors are expected to recover only a small share, and complex legal and tax matters can keep insolvency proceedings going for years.
Neckermann, once a major German mail-order retailer, filed for insolvency in 2012 after online competitors put pressure on its catalogue business.
Josef Neckermann founded the Frankfurt company in 1950, and its first catalogue offered 133 textile products.
The business expanded into areas including tourism and employed about 20,000 people in the mid-1970s.
In 1977, Josef Neckermann sold a majority stake to Karstadt and left the company.
Otto later bought Neckermann’s brand rights, but the online shop closed in 2021.
- Who
- Neckermann, the German mail-order retailer founded by Josef Neckermann.
- What
- The company filed for insolvency, leading to its wind-down.
- When
- It filed for insolvency in 2012. Its online shop closed in 2021.
- Where
- Frankfurt, Germany.
- Why
- Online competitors such as Amazon put pressure on the catalogue business, and the company’s earlier rescue efforts did not save it.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Josef Neckermann founded the mail-order company in Frankfurt on 1 April.
Josef Neckermann sold a majority stake to Karstadt and left the company.
Neckermann filed for insolvency, and the company’s wind-down began.
Otto ended operation of the Neckermann online shop.
- Founded
- 1950
- First catalogue
- 12 pages with 133 textile offers
- Workforce
- About 20,000 people in the mid-1970s
- Majority stake sold
- 1977, to Karstadt
- Insolvency
- 2012
- Online shop closed
- 2021
What people are saying
Neckermann makes it possible
a low recovery rate is expected