Facts & Figures
- Awards: Butlers received the German Retail Award 2004 from the German Retail Association (HDE) and in 2005 was a finalist in the “Entrepreneur of the Year” competition.
1829 Foundation of “Wilhelm Josten Söhne”: Part of this traditional enterprise is the Josten department store in the German city of Neuss - an address that has offered every type of household product for the last 150 years - from fine porcelain to pots and vacuum cleaners. From the family-owned establishment “Butlers – Josten Handel + Franchise GmbH & Co KG” emerged, an idea and a company that blows the dust off the glass, porcelain and ceramic industries.
1999 In Cologne, two brothers Wilhelm and Paul Josten with Frank Holzapfel open the first Butlers store which quickly attracts a fervent following of customers. On opening day, 100 butlers stand ready to carry the customers’ bags home for them.
2005 After opening 50 new stores in Germany, Butlers expands abroad with subsidiaries “Butlers Trading Ltd” and “Butlers Handel GmbH” in London, Basel and Vienna.
2006 In Dubai, a franchise partner opens the first Butlers store outside Europe. Soon afterwards contracts are signed with licencees in Greece, Slovenia, Hungary and Ukraine.
Butlers – now with over 100 branches nationally and internationally - and growing, with 600 employees and 23 million visitors to stores annually.