Draft:Gabor Shoes

Gabor Shoes AG is a German shoe manufacturer headquartered in Rosenheim. The corporation is family-owned.

Foundation and post-war period
On February 1, 1949, Joachim Gabor (1929 in Groß-Strehlitz) and his brother Bernhard Gabor (1925) founded the B. & J. Gabor Women's Shoe Factory in Barmstedt near Hamburg. They initially repurposed an existing factory.

The first model produced by Gabor was the so-called Jedermann-Schuh (everyman-shoe), which, following World War II, aimed to fit everyone. At first, 10 to 15 pairs of these were produced per day. During the post-war period, sales stagnated. In 1951, Bernhard Gabor travelled to the United States to gather new ideas for the company. Subsequently, the brothers developed the California, a three-buckle shoe, and in 1955, ballerina flats, which sold well, leading to the expansion of business activities.

In the 1950s, Gabor entered new markets, starting with the German-speaking countries of Austria and Switzerland, followed by Scandinavia and the Benelux countries, later including the United Kingdom, Russia, the United States, Asia, and Eastern Europe.

In 1960, a dedicated factory was established in Spittal, Austria, primarily to facilitate deliveries to the Scandinavian EFTA countries, which were shielded by tariffs. In 1960, Gabor GesmbH was founded as a subsidiary for this purpose. Nine years later, another factory was put into operation in Spittal.

Relocation and expansion
In 1966, the company headquarters were relocated to Bavaria, and Joachim Gabor moved with 63 employee families to Rosenheim, to be closer to leather manufacturers in Italy and the Gabor factory in Austria. In the same year, Bernhard Gabor passed away from a heart attack. For the employees, several residential units were built, which would later become a student dormitory.

Gabor expanded over the following years. In 1976, Gabor opened another factory in Villach, Austria. In 1990, the family limited partnership was converted into a GmbH (limited liability company). In the early 1990s, production facilities in Austria were restructured. Simultaneously, new factories were established in Silveiros, Portugal (1991), and in Slovakia (1997). Gabor adopted the legal form of an Aktiengesellschaft (public limited company) in 1994. In the same year, the company separated from its two United States store chains. In 1998, Gabor offered men's shoes for the first time.

2000s
In 2000, Gabor acquired the shoe licence for the Camel active brand from WBI Worldwide Brands, Inc., based in Cologne. This acquisition included the development, production, and distribution of these shoes. From then on, mainly men's shoes were sold under the new brand name Camel active. For this purpose, the newly founded subsidiary Gabor Footwear GmbH also set up its own sales and international sales force. Subsequently, licences were also granted for Gabor handbags, shoe care products, children's footwear, and slippers. In 2002, Gabor entered the bag, luggage, and small leather goods sector.

Until 2005, Joachim Gabor served as the CEO before handing over the leadership of the company to his son Achim Gabor, who had already been appointed to the board in 2002. Joachim Gabor transitioned to the Supervisory Board and was later appointed an honorary member. He passed away in 2013.

In spring 2009, Gabor acquired the brand rights of the Spanish brand snipe. Since December 2018, Gabor has been operating an online marketplace to implement an omnichannel model, integrating local retailers into the distribution of Gabor products. In 2019, Gabor obtained approval to incorporate Gore-Tex into its products, but relinquished the licence of the Camel active brand.

Company structure
Stefan Blöchinger has been CEO of Gabor Shoes AG since 2023. Dieter Schenk is Chairman of the Supervisory Board.

In 2022, the company generated revenue of €340.1 million and employed over 2,620 people, 386 of whom worked at its headquarters in Rosenheim. In 2022, Gabor sold 6.7 million pairs of shoes. According to the German magazine Shoez, Gabor is considered one of the most well-known shoe brands in Germany.

Gabor's products are primarily manufactured in factories located in Portugal and Slovakia, with certain shoe types produced in Asia. The largest production site is situated in Slovakia. The central logistics centre is located in Mindelheim, Germany. From there, Gabor's products are distributed to approximately 60 countries worldwide. The facility is capable of handling up to ten million pairs of shoes.

Internationally, Gabor operates almost 400 stores and serves several thousand stationary and online retail partners in over 60 countries.

Products
Gabor primarily develops, manufactures, and distributes shoes. Each season, several hundred models are developed, available in over 2,000 variants. Gabor offers 15 different sizes. Across all factories, several tens of thousands of pairs of shoes are produced daily. Since 2020, men's shoes have been distributed under the brand name Pius Gabor.

Awards (Selection)

 * 2016: Awarded the Königsklasse (top class) seal by the Foundation for Family Businesses.
 * 2018: Drapers Footwear Award in the Mainstream Footwear category by the British Footwear Association.
 * 2020: Award as Digital Hidden Champion by the F.A.Z. Institute of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
 * 2020: Named one of the three best online stores in the industry by Handelsblatt.