Baur

BAUR Versand GmbH & Co KG was founded in 1925 as Germany's first shoe mail order company by Dr. Friedrich Baur in the Upper Franconian town of Burgkunstadt. The success of the company is rooted in the sales concept of collective ordering, initiated by Friedrich Baur himself, as well as installment payment, which was introduced as early as 1935. The continuous expansion of the product range led to the ongoing enlargement of the company. Today, the administration is housed in Burgkunstadt with a shop, central warehouse and shipment handling centre in the neighboring town of Altenkunstadt. The reserve storage warehouse and logistics center for third-party business are located in Weismain. Another phase of expansion kicked off when the Otto Group purchased a holding interest in Baur in 1997. In 2001 BAUR took over the Austrian mail order company Universal and two years later the BAUR Group expanded again with the addition of Otto Österreich, a mail order company distinguished by a high level of fashion expertise. At the end of the 1990s the company entered the eCommerce arena and today the entire range of products is available online. Over 30 percent of orders from some three million customers are now placed on the Internet, with baur.de consistently featuring among the top ten German Internet shops. The BAUR Group has since created additional business areas such as the "I'm walking" specialist site at www.imwalking.de in 2003 and BAUR Fulfillment Solutions (BFS) in 2006. BFS www.baur-fs.de also provides a call center, warehousing, debtor management and distribution services for third parties. As a multi-channel provider, BAUR not only operates its catalogue and Internet business but also engages in stationary retailing, and operates the largest department store in northern Bavaria with a floor space of approximately 25,000 square meters. In terms of distance selling, BAUR focuses on the fashion, shoes and furniture product areas. The Group attaches importance to social responsibility and selects its products and suppliers according to origins, quality and ecological compatibility. The protection of the environment and health is defined as key corporate goals. For example, the range of non-toxic textiles and FSC-certified furniture is being constantly expanded and the company's environment management system has been certified according to the ISO standard 14001 since 2002. The BAUR Group currently employs a workforce of 4,000 in Germany and Austria, of which 2,800 employees are active in the Upper Franconian district of Lichtenfels.