Interview with KAUFLAND
Some days after our experience trip in Troisdorf´s pedestrian precinct
we got the chance to interview Mr Kausemann, the manager of KAUFLAND, the most
important department store in Troisdorf. (In Englisch KAUFLAND can be
translated by "shopping land".)
Although of being very occupied and having a lot of appointments, Mr
Kausemann took some time for us and told us a lot of interesting things about
his department store:
What were
the reasons for building KAUFLAND on this place? Was it because of the
favorable position at the pedestrian precinct or was it by chance?
Mr K.: We didn´t choose this place for our
department store. It was just by chance that KAUFLAND was built on a position
at the pedestrian precinct. We got a approvel and the city offered us this
place. At that time one part of this place lay waste and on the other part of
this place there was a playground.
Did you
have to fight against protests by building this department store at the place
of the former playground?
Mr K.: No, we hadn´t. The only
"protests" were from the side of our competitors. As they heard the
building of a big department store in Troisdorf´s pedestrian precinct, they got
nervous, dubious and critical.
How long
has KAUFLAND existed?
Mr K.: Our department store in Troisdorf has
excisted since November of 1996.
To which
company does KAUFLAND belong ?
Mr K.: KAUFLAND belongs to a firm, called
"Lidl & Schwarz Company". This company manages over twelve
different stores. Except of KAUFLAND you can find Lidl, a grocery of "Lidl
& Schwarz Company", in Troisdorf´s pedestrian precinct.
Because of the second world war the company was destroyed in 1944. Only
ten years later, in 1954, the company got a new house of their own. The first
commerce yard came in 1968 into being.. Since 1993 "Lidl & Schwarz
Company" got a new administration building in Neckersulm.
Can we find
more department stores, called KAUFLAND, in Germany?
Mr K.: Yes, of course. KAUFLAND isn´t a private
business but a "chain firm". There are circa 160 department stores,
called KAUFLAND, all over Germany. But they aren´t all the same. Some are
smaller and some are bigger.
How many
employees do work in KAUFLAND?
Mr K.: We employ circa 120 employees, among them
there are permanent employees, part-time workers, university students and
during the holidays also (high school) students over 18 years.
Are your
customers mostly from outside the city and do they come by car or do more
people come on foot?
Mr K.: Most customers the are from outside. 70-75%
of the customrs come by car and 25% come on foot.
Kaufland
also owns a multi-storey car park. Do the parking places available satusfy the
customers?
Mr K.: We offer about 450 parking places in our
multi-storey car park. Before KAUFLAND arrived in Troisdorf, there weren´t
enough parking places near the pedestrian precinct, but now the parking places
are sufficent for the customers, I think.
At the week-end our multi-storey car park often is full of cars. Because
it´s not only for people ,who come to shop at KAUFLAND, but also for customers,
who come to the cinema or to events in the pedestrian precinct.
What can
the customer find in the great store building except KAUFLAND?
Mr K.: Except the KAUFLAND store proper, the
customer finds many more little stores in this store building.We rent it to a
hairdressing saloon, to a jewels store, to a travel agent, to a magazine store,
to a bakery, to a snack bar and to a locksmith. But we also rent it to the
great new cinema, to an electrical store and to a clothes store for young
people.
How are
this little shops used? Do they profit from KAUFLAND and are they dependent on
it?
Mr K.: They all profit from KAUFLAND. A lot of
KAUFLAND´s customers visit also the small stores. Most of all do the bakery and
snack bar profit from KAUFLAND, because what they offer, is what people most
need. Every fourth customer also buys there.
The other stores like the travel agent for example are irregularly
visited by KAUFLAND´s customers. When a customer wants to book a trip, he
probable books it here, instead of going to another travel agent in the
pedestrian precinct. If KAUFLAND hadn´t got so many customers, it wouldn´t be
easy for the other stores around.
Is the food
department of Kaufland the center of the whole department store?
Mr K.: Yes it is. Most customers come to buy
food.
For all
other shops in Troisdorf´s pedestrian precinct KAUFLAND is a strong competitor.
Can they overcome the "competition" with KAUFLAND?
Mr K.: In every pedestrian precinct there is a
"competition" between the stores. If a store can overcome such a
"competition" is only due to the customer. Only the customer decides
where he buys. That "competition" exists because of several products.
It´s difficult for stores, which offer the same products, but at different
prices. People prefer to buy in big stores, where the prices often are much lower.
Because of its big choice of products and because of low prices KAUFLAND
attracts customers from many neighbouring towns to the pedestrian precinct.
Can you
tell us something about your greatest rival KAUFHALLE?
Mr K.: The department store KAUFLAND will close
down this year. But I don´t exactly know all reasons for it. Yes, it´s known
that one of these reasons is KAUFLAND.
Today it´s still not known what we will find in this building in future.
The city plans a shopping passage with private, little, seperate stores and
cafés, that will be opened till 11 pm. But it´s already sure that there won´t
be another department store
Are you
also a customer of KAUFLAND?
Mr K.: Sure! Why not. My wife often gives me a
shopping list and then I buy everything we need in KAUFLAND. It´s practical for
me.
How is
shopping in Troisdorf judged in contrast to the two big cities Cologne and
Bonn, between which it lies ?
Mr K.: Over 70 percent of Troisdorf´s population
purchases in Troisdorf. But there are still a lot of people that often prefer
to go to a bigger city for shopping. That´s not a great loss, because on the
other hand there are many people who come to Troisdorf for shopping.
But nevertheless Troisdorf tries to keep more peple here for purchaising
and makes the downtown area more attractive and intersting. KAUFLAND, the
cinema, new parking places and other things contribute to it.
Can we be
sure that Troisdorf soon will achieve, what it tries to be, a "
Shopping-Experiance"? Will KAUFLAND be another basic contributor that
helps Troisdorf to become a shopping center?
Mr K.: I hope that Troisdorf will achieve it. And
I also hope that KAUFLAND will stay a successful department store that helps
Troisdorf to become a shopping center. We´ll try our best, but we can´t be
sure. The answer lies in the hands of Troisdorf´s customers ...
