BAUR Group, Otto create integrated European retail association

16 Oct '24

3 min read

BAUR Group, Otto create integrated european retail association

Pic: Otto Group's

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The BAUR Group, alongside Otto Austria Group and OTTO Netherlands, will form a new European retail association serving over three million customers across Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.
Led by CEO Stephan P. Elsner, CFO Achim Güllmann, and COO Eric Haverkort, the group aims to boost competitiveness through cross-border synergies and efficient processes in a challenging market.

To strengthen its future in a challenging market environment, the BAUR Group plans to create an integrated, strong, and synergistically organized European association of retailers from within the Otto Group, serving over three million customers in the four European markets of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the Netherlands. The leadership of this new association will be taken on by the three-member management team of the BAUR Group, which includes Stephan P. Elsner as CEO and Achim Güllmann, formerly of Otto Austria Group, as CFO, with Eric Haverkort, Managing Director of OTTO Netherlands, joining soon as COO. The addition to the management board will happen soon, most likely around the turn of the year.

The three Otto Group companies BAUR Group, and its subsidiary Otto Austria Group, as well as OTTO Netherlands will intensify their collaboration and create a new European retail association under the BAUR Group umbrella. In an increasingly challenging market environment, the aim is for the new association to unlock new growth and revenue potential by concentrating expertise and strengths. The goal is to significantly enhance the competitiveness and the individual brands in this demanding market landscape. It is planned to continue utilizing the respective brands in their home markets of Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, collectively serving over three million customers.

A key driver for the future viability of the association will be efficient processes and organizational workflows across borders. This is particularly important due to the ongoing weak economic development in Europe, which is also reflected in consumer sentiment and trade.

"In a challenging competitive environment, we are seizing the opportunity to establish a strong and future-proof group with the synergistically organized, integrated, and European association of retailers, which will unlock further growth potential," says Kay Schiebur, Executive Board Member Services of the Otto Group. "I am also pleased that Eric Haverkort will be completing the management of the BAUR Group. Eric has known the Otto Group and the retail business for many years. At OTTO Netherlands, he has demonstrated his ability to successfully transform business models, guiding the company from a mail-order retailer to an e-commerce business."

Eric Haverkort has been with OTTO Netherlands since 1998, becoming part of the management team in 2004 and gradually taking on responsibility for logistics, Customer Service, IT, and credit management. Previously, he worked for several years at Philips Electronics in the Netherlands and Belgium, where he was responsible for new business areas, including B2C sales via online channels.

The entrepreneurial responsibility for the BAUR Group will lie with a three-member management team: Stephan P. Elsner as CEO, Achim Güllmann as CFO, and Eric Haverkort as COO. Eric Haverkort will also continue to manage OTTO Netherlands, while the Otto Austria Group will be led by Harald Gutschi.

Stephan P. Elsner: "The market environment will remain very difficult for retailers for the foreseeable future due to various factors. Under one roof, we will work together very intensively in the future to leverage synergies, shared strengths, and potentials. The BAUR Group has been around for nearly 100 years, and one of its strengths has always been to evolve and make difficult business decisions, adapting processes and strategic directions to market conditions."