Company building significantly enlarged
- admin
- May 22, 2007
- 2 min read
Report in PRO-LEDER – Issue 5/2007
Courtesy of the leather trade magazine: www.pro-leder.de
Jacobs GmbH in Rödermark on growth path
Jacobs GmbH in Rödermark has had 50 percent more office space and 80 percent more warehouse space at its disposal since this summer.
A vacant neighboring building, which was taken over, made it possible.
When the Jacobs company was founded 40 years ago by Eberhard Jacobs, it was purely a sales agency. Later, trading was added, and today the company, now managed by Bernd and Michael Jacobs, encompasses everything from in-house development to production and distribution. Raw materials purchased by the company are processed in European contract factories, primarily in Italy. A permanent employee is permanently on-site and is responsible for monitoring production.
Michael Jacobs joined the company in 1990 and is now responsible for field sales.
His brother Bernd joined the team three years later and is now responsible for ensuring that everything runs smoothly in the office.
The enlarged Jacobs company building in Rödermark.
After their father left the company seven years ago, both brothers now act as managing directors.
The Rödermark-based company, which now employs eleven people, deliberately focuses on the upscale market segment, right up to the luxury genre. Its target group is primarily leather goods manufacturers: around 50 percent of the leather supplied by Jacobs goes into the production of bags, belts, and small leather goods. Thirty percent of sales are generated with the shoe industry and 20 percent with bookbinding leather.
Regionally, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands are the main sales markets, but the company now also has regular customers in Italy.
"We still see a mid- to high-end market in Europe," says Michael Jacobs. He believes the Jacobs collection's highly fashionable focus is important in this regard.
But the company's full range of products also earns it points with customers: "With us, the customer doesn't have to run from pillar to post to put together the goods they need," says Jacobs, referring to the entire range of collections, which range from leather to synthetics and fabrics to metal accessories.
The concept has worked so far, as evidenced by steady growth rates. And the limited space they had to contend with in Rödermark was also a challenge. When the neighboring building became available, Bernd and Michael Jacobs didn't hesitate to rent it. Following this expansion, the company now has approximately 800 square meters of warehouse space and approximately 250 square meters of office and showroom space at its disposal.
Manfred Willsch
