Jacques Lemans
Carinthian watch brand fights against the smartwatch crisis
Celebrities such as Olympic snowboarding champion Anna Gasser, actor Tobias Moretti and even Hollywood star Kevin Costner are promoting the Carinthian watch brand Jacques Lemans, which sells almost one million wristwatches worldwide every year. How the company now wants to expand.
Hand on heart: if you had two watches in front of you and one bore the words "Alfred Riedl" and the other "Jacques Lemans", you would probably choose the French name, which sounds like music to the ears. Carinthian Alfred Riedl thought the same thing when he decided to enter the watch business 50 years ago: "That's why I chose a French fantasy name for my company."
Market leader in the price segment between 100 and 500 euros
His success proves him right: "In Germany and Austria, Jacques Lemans has been number one in the price segment between 100 and 500 euros for 25 years because our price-performance ratio is very good. We are represented in around one hundred countries worldwide - even in Vietnam, where our brand is as important as a Rolex elsewhere. We are a licensee of UEFA, for example, whose Champions League watch we produce. We recently signed another three-year contract with UEFA." The Champions League watch (see picture) costs 249 euros.
The trained electrical engineer Riedl is particularly proud of this: "We have been working without credit for 35 years - everything we have invested has been earned beforehand. And: "Twenty years ago, I already had the first callers asking if I was interested in investing or going public. But I always wanted it to remain a family business."
Annual production fell from 1.2 million to 900,000 units per year
Of course, competition from smartwatches such as the Apple Watch also hit his Jacques Lemans GesmbH, based in St. Veit an der Glan. Riedl: "Ten years ago, we were still producing and selling 1.2 million watches, today we are producing 900,000 watches a year."
But now the entrepreneur, who employs around 140 people in Austria and 250 at the production site in China, wants to expand again - in France of all places: "From the fall, we want to roll out the French market and later also the Spanish market. Because if Jacques Lemans is a big player in Germany and Italy, why shouldn't it also work in France? The most important thing is to have the right local partner!" He is also setting the pace in Asia, for example in China, India and Singapore, where the company is already active. The declared aim is to increase sales again to 1.2 million units.
Jacques-Lemans stores are planned in Berlin, Munich and Hamburg
Its watches are primarily sold through specialist retailers and jewelers. However, the company also has ten stores of its own in Austria, for example in Vienna, Graz, Innsbruck and Klagenfurt - and plans to open more in Germany. Riedl: "We are planning our own stores in major cities such as Berlin, Munich and Hamburg, and the aim is to have a total of ten stores there too."
There is further growth potential in the jewelry segment, which Jacques Lemans entered ten years ago. Riedl: "In addition to our range of 850 watches, we have also added around 850 pieces of jewelry such as necklaces, bracelets and ear studs."
Hollywood stars Kevin Costner and Clint Eastwood as testimonials
Cooperation with celebrities who advertise his products is important to him: "We had a good cooperation with Hollywood stars Kevin Costner, Clint Eastwood and Ron Perlman as testimonials." Ski star Anna Veith has also been a brand ambassador. This year, in addition to Villach snowboarder Anna Gasser, he has also brought actor Tobias Moretti on board as an advertising medium, who will be seen wearing a Jacques Lemans watch on his wrist in brochures, cinema advertising etc. in future.
But time does not stop at Riedl, who will be 75 this year, which is why he is handing over more responsibility to his three children. Son Andreas Riedl (23): "I joined the company after graduating from high school and have now been apprenticed to my dad for five years, so to speak."
More responsibility for the three children, who are learning the job from the ground up
His brother Christian Riedl (20) is currently working as a sales representative in Germany, traveling from jeweler to jeweler to learn the business from the ground up. Alfred Riedl: "I think it's great, because we live from sales. I can have the best watches, but if I have bad salespeople, it doesn't work."
Daughter Michaela Riedl, who turned 25 this week, will be responsible for the marketing agendas from June. For Alfred Riedl, one thing is clear: "I don't have to prove anything to anyone anymore. It's great to work with young people!"
Kommentare
Liebe Leserin, lieber Leser,
die Kommentarfunktion steht Ihnen ab 6 Uhr wieder wie gewohnt zur Verfügung.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
das krone.at-Team
User-Beiträge geben nicht notwendigerweise die Meinung des Betreibers/der Redaktion bzw. von Krone Multimedia (KMM) wieder. In diesem Sinne distanziert sich die Redaktion/der Betreiber von den Inhalten in diesem Diskussionsforum. KMM behält sich insbesondere vor, gegen geltendes Recht verstoßende, den guten Sitten oder der Netiquette widersprechende bzw. dem Ansehen von KMM zuwiderlaufende Beiträge zu löschen, diesbezüglichen Schadenersatz gegenüber dem betreffenden User geltend zu machen, die Nutzer-Daten zu Zwecken der Rechtsverfolgung zu verwenden und strafrechtlich relevante Beiträge zur Anzeige zu bringen (siehe auch AGB). Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.