Part 1 // Articles
Airport shopping
Family business for Findel Duty Free specialist Gebr. Heinemann is a long-standing partner of LuxairGroup. Text: Monika Gohde | Photos: Gebr. Heinemann Français, lire pag e 55...
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ith over 130 years of experience the Gebr. Heinemann has developed into a leading distributor, retailer and logistics specialist in Europe. Based in Hamburg since 1879 the family business is now in its fourth generation under the joint leadership of cousins Claus and Gunnar Heinemann. For over 15 years the Gebr. Heinemann has cooperated with LuxairGroup. The collaboration, at first sporadic and via distributors, was consolidated in 2006. Now, the company is the prime purveyor of perfume, cosmetics, as well as duty free spirits and tobacco for the bye bye Luxembourg shops. Clearly proud of the tradition behind the family operation, Claus Heinemann has been working in the business for 31 years, with two decades spent steering the ship in corporate management. “During the time of our ancestors there were no duty free activities on airports. Then, we delivered to seamen and diplomats,” says Heinemann of the long business history. Over time, however, airport and airline business have become increasingly important, now making up 70 percent of the company revenue. Far from resting on their laurels, Gebr.
Heinemann keeps developing, for example in the retail sector, “where we operate 230 shops at 48 international airports. For three years we’ve had our own brand Heinemann Duty Free.”
From local base to international clients Firmly rooted in Hamburg, Germany, the headquarters are located in the Speicherstadt warehouse district as a modern Hanseatic enterprise. “Hamburg remains the ideal location to conduct our business from. Most of the products we distribute are from Western Europe and we deliver a lot into the east.” Also part of the business is one of the most modern logistics centres in Europe in Hamburg-Allermöhe from where deliveries go out to over 1,000 clients worldwide at airports, seaports and border crossings. “We conduct 75 percent of our business outside of Germany.” Much more than just a warehouse, the site allows for 200 lorries to be dispatched daily with 55 robots at work on up to 45,000 pallets. For all the modern technologies, the company remains a family business at heart. While Claus and Gunnar Heinemann have split responsibilities for purveyors, clients and partnerships
between them, “we communicate very closely so that we could always take on each other’s duties,” says Claus Heinemann. “My cousin and I get along very well. While we do have some controversial discussions, we have a trusting and friendly relationship, which is incredibly important for a family business.”
It’s all in the mix The family also tries to incorporate these values in the everyday workings of their long-standing business. “We’re very involved in the company and we work together with the management to act as an example when it comes to company values like trust, respect but also good humour.” The future leaders of the business are also already proving themselves abroad. With Gunnar Heinemann’s son currently building the company’s branch in Singapore and Claus Heinemann’s niece working for the Gebr. Heinemann in Oslo, it seems that the fifth generation is raring to go. “Our advantages are most of all flat hierarchies, quick decision making processes, a good working atmosphere and the possibility to plan in advance,” says Claus Heinemann on the company’s success as a market leader in Europe. “So far we have managed to
assert ourselves against stock market listed, anonymous companies.” The variety of customers was what attracted the company to the specialisation in duty free and airport shopping. While the different nationalities, languages, mentalities and shopping habits present a challenge, they are also the focus of Gebr. Heinemann’s Duty Free Shops, offering a substantial and up to date range of goods. “With our new retail brand we have become even more personal, surprising and service oriented.” The cooperation with Luxair has grown over the years and now encompasses the whole service package of Gebr. Heinemann, “delivery of goods just in time, consolidation of orders from different product groups, promotions, trainings, merchandising support, and more. The cooperation is very open, constructive and has been successful right from the start.” While Gebr. Heinmann has been a Luxair partner for over a decade, the cooperation was tightened in late 2006. As the plans for the new terminal were being put together Gebr. Heinemann was chosen as the first partner for the bye bye Luxem bourg shops because of their experience and international structures. “The retail branch of Luxair wanted and needed to develop further.
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07.12.2011 17:12:41 Uhr