Interview with Mr Mark Bezner

Since the company was formed in 1951, much has indeed changed. However, through it all, the company has remained true to its original philosophy of producing outstanding quality clothing with special wear and care advantages at an extremely fair price. Today we make it possible for our partners in specialist shops to achieve pleasing sales figures and a progressively increasing turnover with our market-based products. Over 90 per cent of the fashion collections, meanwhile, are manufactured from our own designs using exclusively woven fabrics. In particular, the “OLYMP Luxor” non-iron and wrinkle-free business shirts line, made from 100 per cent cotton, classically cut or slim line, is enjoying rising popularity. Having said that, you will also find easy-care casual and polo shirts in our product portfolio. The four extensive annual collections are complemented by high-quality ties made of pure silk, which also offer enhanced protection from dirt and stains, having been improved using Nano Technology. One entirely new product that has recently been rolled out is the business shirt “OLYMP Level Five – body fit” with natural Comfort Stretch for the super-slim, young and fashion-conscious male. But it is not only the product range that has been adapted to the changing demands of the market over the decades; OLYMP is also known for its innovative action when it comes to efficient floor management, a successful marketing concept or the complex field of targeted merchandising. Overall, in what is a difficult market environment characterised by a slump in consumer spending, these measures have resulted in the total sales for the company tripling since the mid-1990s to just short of 110 million euros in 2008.

The order pattern of the trade has changed drastically. For a start, the order rhythms have increased originally from two to currently four collections. Moreover, the last-minute supply of goods seen today, where businesses will order when necessary and which is causing a shift in risk to the disadvantage of the industry, is gaining in importance all the time. For this reason, we are offering the trade a huge never-out-of-stock (NOS) programme, for which we constantly keep more than 400,000 standard articles and classic basic items in stock, ready for delivery, which we can actually ship on the same day if ordered by 1 p.m. As things now stand, we already achieve over 50 per cent of our sales through this prompt business service.

Naturally enough, people’s consumer behaviour has also changed fundamentally over the last fifty years. Thus, in many cases, clothing today is not primarily a vital commodity, but rather tends to be a substitute good. Especially in our domestic market of Germany, the clothing sector has been in recession since the start of the 1990s, the market is saturated, and consumption is tremendously depressed. To make matters worse, the price sensitivity of buyers has increased. As a result, tough and uncompromising predatory competition prevails. Fortunately, there are men today who place greater value on their appearance than in the past, who live a more demanding life and so dress in a more fashion and quality-conscious way – and do so into old age. By deliberately appealing to this clientele, OLYMP has been able to sustain its position despite the otherwise adverse market conditions.

In many export markets we are still in the early stages of market penetration. To date, OLYMP has yet to be represented in many countries of the world. And even in the major German market, the potential is by no means exhausted. Which is why we are convinced that the global demand for the type of high-quality men’s outerwear that OLYMP provides offers virtually unlimited possibilities.

The opportunities for OLYMP are to be found in international expansion, which we are consistently pursuing mainly in Europe. Besides the key export countries such as Belgium, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland, Eastern European states like Croatia, Poland, Rumania and Russia and the Arabic countries of the Middle East are also offering excellent growth and sales rates. In addition, the brand-conscious Chinese market, which OLYMP has been cultivating since the end of 2005 with much success, also carries enormous potential in the still booming commercial centres of its eastern coast.

The success of the OLYMP brand is based, in my estimation, on the aspects cited under Question 1, together with entrepreneurial discipline, professional competence, and continuity of product. The OLYMP brand has attained a strong market position by these means in recent years. The company, moreover, has always been run in a solid manner and sensibly managed within its capabilities from the outset. As an owner-managed family concern, OLYMP is also able to plan for the long term, totally unconstrained by financial investors, and can thereby ensure that any future market activity will remain successful. What is more, we will continue to do our utmost to keep improving our performance in every area, so that we can provide our trade partners with the security of being able to rely, at any time, on the correct shirt supplier and business partner.

Concentrating on our core competences is, no doubt, a further guarantee for the success of the OLYMP brand. And we will carry on with this strategy. Focussing on it puts us in the position of being able to develop and produce our narrow, but very deep, product portfolio of business and casual shirts, ties and polos with a high degree of precision and so set ourselves apart from the competition. Sensible additions to the product range are still possible on a regular basis, though, as the latest product “OLYMP Level Five – body fit” shows. In the casual and leisurewear segment, you can expect to see informal long-sleeve polo shirts, sweatshirts and zipper jackets, each colour-coordinated to the particular shirt range, in the autumn/winter collection of 2009, which will enrich our product programme. Hence, women’s or children’s clothes will not be an option for us in the near future.

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