OLYMP takes over jumper manufacturer MÄRZ

25 May '10

6 min read

OLYMP Bezner GmbH & Co. KG, the shirt and clothing manufacturer from Bietigheim-Bissingen (in the district of Ludwigsburg/Baden-Württemberg/Germany), announces its official takeover of the knitwear specialists MÄRZ München AG based in Munich/Bavaria. The combination of these two successful clothing manufacturers with a lengthy company history is a positive move and represents a logical extension to the product mix and product ranges of both companies in the international shirt and knitwear market.

Mark Bezner, Managing Director of OLYMP Bezner GmbH & Co. KG and new sole proprietor of MÄRZ München AG, believes that the merging of these two companies will have very positive effects both in terms of range extension and synergy. "We regard the collaboration with MÄRZ, despite the differing product alignment, to be the basis for a variety of modification and development possibilities in the clothing sector. With this constructive and far-reaching decision, we are positioning ourselves together as a medium-sized company group from Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria for a solid future and a stable growth in the hotly contested premium segment for shirts and knitwear products."

The extension to product diversity through the addition of adapted knitwear products aims to achieve an increasingly dynamic sales trend in the European markets with high coverage in a price category which coherently links in with the price structure of the current collections. "Here we are also quite deliberately accelerating the pace in the casual segment, in order to meet a complex demand from the textile trade. As a counterpart to the summery OLYMP polo, from Autumn 2011 onwards for the first time ever we will also be offering a new OLYMP jumper for the cooler seasons to provide a full product presentation on the shelves of our trade partners.”

As a new member of the OLYMP group, the established Bavarian knitwear specialist MÄRZ München AG, this year celebrating its 90th anniversary as a family-owned company, will remain at its current headquarters in Munich with the preservation of all 90 jobs throughout Germany. In addition, the intention is for the current MÄRZ chairman Stephan Gittel to continue to manage the company. There are important reasons for making this personnel decision, including his lengthy service at the company, his excellent knowledge of the internal structures, experience in the established knitwear markets and success in maintaining the exceptional knitting expertise of the “Mercedes of the German knitwear manufacturers”. This decision will also provide valuable economic benefits due to a strong product position, exceptional procurement structure with the company's own production facility in Hungary, as well as an extremely reliable and competent production team.

OLYMP Managing Director Mark Bezner sees his logical purchasing decision as a positive investment in the future of both firms: "MÄRZ München AG over the last fewyears has developed in a thoroughly positive manner and between 2005 and 2008 has continuously increased turnover. On a substantially secure foundation of development, procurement, production and sales, the company has also emerged from the recent crisis year of 2009 without significant injuries with a turnover of 24 million euro. We are not only aware of the excellent positioning of this traditional brand and its long-lasting success amongst existing MÄRZ customers in the upper premium price segment of 99.00 euro and above on the home market, but also recognise a potential which can still be significantly increased in the international export markets for high-quality knitwear of German origin.”

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