Genre Retail Number of locations c. 160 | Headquarters Cologne, Germany Area served Europe | |
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Founded Neuss, Germany (1999 (1999)) Key people Jörg Funke, Wilhelm Josten, Holger Niedecken | ||
Butlers (BUTLERS GmbH & Co KG) is a German lifestyle concept that sells home accessories, decoration, furniture and gifts in more than 160 stores throughout Europe. The Cologne-based company also uses the claim “Made for your Home” and the presentation of decoration ideas by means of themed tables to run an online shop for Austria, Great Britain, Germany, Switzerland and Spain.
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History
Butlers originates from the family run company "Wilhelm Josten Söhne", founded in 1829 in Neuss, Germany, which included the department store "Josten" – known for kitchenware and household appliances. In 1999 the brothers Wilhelm and Paul Josten together with Frank Holzapfel opened the first Butlers store in Cologne.
In the year 2005 Butlers expanded abroad with its sub companies "Butlers Trading Ltd." and "Butlers Handel GmbH". The first branches outside of Germany were established in London, Zurich and Vienna. Whilst the stores in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain and Great Britain are managed by Butlers own company, franchise partners run shops in Hungary, Ukraine, Greece, Croatia, Malta, Luxembourg and the Czech Republic.
In cooperation with the German start-up "Stickvogel" Butlers introduced in 2011 the service "Made by you" to individualize products via an online-configurator by embroidering and engraving or to print pictures on canvas.
In 2004 Butlers won a German Retail Association award. The company was elected twice (2005 and 2012) finalist in the contest “Entrepreneur of the year” by the accounting firm Ernst & Young. Furthermore, Butlers secured a victory at the German eCommerce Awards 2012 ("Deutscher Online-Handels-Award") and the NEOCOM Congress 2013 ("Versender des Jahres").
Assortment
The assortment contains kitchenware, household appliances, furniture, table decorations, home accessories and textiles.