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The Wishing-Table
For ten years “Butlers” has been selling home ware at lowest prices. The Colognians concept is simple: The permanently changing items are perfectly staged. The role model is Swedish.
Everything stared with a sell-out. When the traditional department store Josten in Neuss had to close down end of the 90ties, everything had to be sold. “And it went so well, that we thought: We’ve got to make something out of this.” The Butlers idea was born, a slightly different home accessories store: with approximately 2000 permanently changing items in the range, from coffee cups to table cloths and candle holders, with small furniture and small fun things for a few cents.
The trick: “We stage thematic worlds, nobody else had done this before”, Wilhelm Josten, who leads the business from the head office in Cologne together with his brother Paul Josten, remembers. In Butlers stores tables are laid with everything fitting, made by a creative team that is permanently inventing new ideas – whether for beach life, birthday or herb garden. Then the forms are designed, colours and materials – the Butlers logo is added and then production follows, about 60% in Far East, Josten remarks. The items have to be at a reasonable price. Because most of the items in the range are “impulse items”, as the 44 year old merchant calls them. Things you take home spontaneously. And that is exactly calculated: Most items cost between 4.99 and 9.99 Euros, that’s just the margin that is o.k. for most people.
The concept works, “even though we don’t advertise”, but the word-of-mouth recommendation and growing presence in the so called 1b locations (e. g. in Cologne in the Breite Straße and Hohenzollernring) show an effect. Butlers customers come back, the marketing department found out. The target group is female, between 30 and 40, has a higher education and according to there own judgement an individual taste.
“End of the year there will be 107 stores throughout Europe in 9 countries” adds Wilhelm Josten. “And I see good potential for another 500 stores.” This year the company will make 75 million Euro turnover, “that’s an increase of 20% - again” the manager says proudly.
Everything is well organized, corporate identity is important. In the Cologne head office in the Breite Straße each collection is decorated and documented photographically. Precise staging instructions are sent out into the world together the merchandise from the warehouse. “We check up on this”, says Josten. The customers must favourably recognize “their” furnishing house and its proposal.
That is what Butlers has in common with chain stores like Strauss Innovation, Habitat, Depot or Cult, who all have brought the “Mac principle” into living rooms. An important role model of course is Ikea, and it is no coincidence, that ten years ago Butlers was one of the first to start off with this idea: Senior Manager of the company is Frank Holzapfel, former Vice Manager for the Swedes in Germany.
During the anniversary classic items are available for a cut price in sets of ten, e.g. the colourful coffee and cereal bowls, glasses and candles – and today laid tables in ten different locations all over Cologne.
PS: Where the name Butlers comes from? “He is a butler between kitchen and table – with the typical Rhenish “s” at the end.” (Kölnische Rundschau)
