Chain store Hunkemöller plans Switzerland launch
It has been known since spring that the Dutch lingerie chain Hunkemöller is planning to enter the Swiss market. Now the plans are becoming concrete, as the "Handelszeitung" reports.
The Handelszeitung writes, citing documents from the Zurich Commercial Register, that Hunkemöller founded a Swiss branch at the end of July. At the same time, a job advertisement on LinkedIn is looking for a country manager. The ad indicates that ten to 25 stores are initially planned. A spokeswoman for the group told the newspaper that it plans to start with four stores this year and "open eight to ten more stores in each of the coming years."
In May, Marc Holike, who is responsible for expansion at the chain store, had told the Switzerland at the weekend said that it sees potential for 40 to 50 stores nationwide in the long term. The company has its sights set on locations in shopping centers and shopping streets. The stores would have to be at least 130 square meters in size, with the flagship store in Amsterdam even having 500 square meters.
According to the Hunkemöller Switzerland Handelszeitung-The company is currently domiciled with the renowned law firm Bär & Karrer. It has a share capital of CHF 100,000.
The company was founded in Amsterdam in 1886 and now operates 800 stores worldwide. The largest market is neighboring Germany, where more than 40 percent of annual sales were generated in the last financial year. In Switzerland, Hunkemöller has so far only operated an online store, but the company has now moved close to Swiss customers with stores in German border towns such as Lörrach, Waldshut, Singen and Constance.
