Shoe manufacturer Künzli discontinues business activities
Published: Thursday, Sep 12th 2024, 13:40
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The traditional Swiss shoe company Künzli will cease trading at the end of the year. The reason for this is that no successor could be found to continue running the company. The eleven employees at the headquarters in Windisch, Aargau, will be made redundant.
This means that the medical Künzli shoes for treating ankle and ligament injuries will disappear from the market, as will the iconic sneakers with the five Künzli stripes. Despite careful and professionally supported succession planning, no adequate successor solution has been found, Künzli announced on Thursday.
"More than bitter"
It seemed as if the company had managed to prepare itself for the future. The company is healthy and growing, they say. "To have to close down now is more than bitter," 63-year-old owner Barbara Artmann is quoted as saying in the press release. She has always seen her role as the guardian of the Künzli brand.
Künzli is now aiming for an orderly withdrawal from the business. This means that the core products "Künzli Ortho" will still be available until the fourth quarter. Surplus and remaining stock as well as sports shoes are expected to be available until the first quarter of 2025. Historic specialties and memorabilia such as historic sports shoes and pictures will be auctioned off at a later date.
The dismissals of the eleven employees at the headquarters in Windisch were unavoidable, Künzli continued. Those affected would be supported in their reorientation. A solution is also being sought for the self-operated factory in Albania that retains the well-established team as far as possible.
"Against the current"
Künzli SwissSchuh AG was founded in 1927 by Werner Künzli. His son Kurt Künzli took over in 1955. In the 1950s, the company also invented the distinctive shoe with the five stripes, which became its trademark.
The "stability shoe" with lateral stabilizers was developed in the 1970s. Continued as "Künzli Ortho", these shoes are still available today. And from 2005, the Künzli sneaker line was created, as the story goes.
The company had "often swum against the tide" and mastered the complex marketing between medicine and fashion. However, this and the current market situation have now probably prevented the handover of the business.
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