From Konsum to Leiner

Domestic brands are disappearing more and more

(Bild: Jauschowetz Christian)

The bankruptcy of the furniture chain Kika/Leiner and the planned restructuring of the lingerie retailer Palmers have once again brought brand extinction back into focus in this country. Over the past 30 years, many traditional domestic brands have disappeared. Meanwhile, international brands such as Ikea, H&M, Deichmann, Amazon and Netflix have thrived in Austria.

Traditional brands such as Konsum, LÖWA/Zielpunkt and Schöps to Niedermeyer and Baumax are currently being hit hard. Market researcher Wolfgang Richter from the consulting firm RegioPlan identifies management errors in many of the brand companies that have disappeared, such as the retail giant Konsum and the family businesses Sport Eybl, Baumax and Kika/Leiner.

Changed consumer behavior
These companies were not forced out of the market by competitors, explained the RegioPlan boss. Some failed companies had also not adapted their type of business to changing consumer habits. Richter cited Red Bull, Swarovski, Spar and XXXLutz as examples of successful brands "made in Austria".

Domestic economy
The increasing market concentration due to brand extinction can be clearly observed in the domestic food trade. The insolvency of the cooperative Konsum Österreich (supermarkets, Forum department stores, Gerngross) shook the domestic economy in 1995. Austria's largest food retailer at the time was broken up and the more than 600 branches were divided up between Adeg, Billa, LÖWA, Meinl and Spar.

In 1996, the founder of Billa, Bipa and Merkur, Karl Wlaschek, sold his retail group to the German Rewe Group. By 1998, all LÖWA stores had disappeared and were renamed Zielpunkt. In 2000, the Julius Meinl Group withdrew from the supermarket business (Julius Meinl, Pampam and Jééé-Diskont) and sold the stores in eastern Austria to Spar and in western Austria to Billa. In 2003, Rewe changed its discount brand in Austria from Mondo to Penny.

Food and drugstore retailing
The concentration process continued in food and drugstore retail in the 2010s. In 2013, dayli (formerly Schlecker) filed for insolvency. The Upper Austrian food wholesaler C+C-Pfeiffer was sold to the Swiss company Transgourmet in 2016 and the Pfeiffer subsidiary Zielpunkt went bankrupt in the same year. The beneficiaries of market concentration in Austria are the four largest food retailers. Spar, Rewe, Hofer and Lidl recently achieved a market share of over 90 percent. In comparison: in the 1970s, Konsum, Spar and the Greisler merger (KHG) only achieved a market coverage of over 40 percent.

Furniture chains in Austria
The increasing dominance of the furniture chains Ikea, Kika/Leiner and XXXLutz in the 1990s and 2000s caused some smaller furniture retailers to give up, such as Michelfeit (2000) and Schwaighofer (2002). With the bankruptcy of Kika/Leiner, the third-largest furniture retailer in Austria left the market at the end of January 2025. According to industry observers, XXXLutz currently covers 35 percent of the domestic market, followed by Ikea with around 20 percent and specialist retailers with 12 percent. The dominance of the XXXLutz Group, which also includes Möbelix and Mömax, will continue to grow towards 40 percent, the representative of the furniture retailers, Christian Wimmer, recently told the ORF radio station "Ö1".

Fashion and shoe retailers also affected
In the fashion and shoe retail sector, numerous brands have disappeared in Austria in recent decades, such as Gazelle (2007), Ergee (2008), Schöps (2009), Don Gil (2011), Stiefelkönig (2018), Pimkie (2021), Orsay (2022), Delka, Salamander (both 2023) and Esprit (2024). The weakness of the competition increased the market share of Deichmann, H&M, Primark and Zara. The domestic electronics chain Niedermeyer had to file for insolvency and closed in 2013.

Sport Eybl & Sports Experts
Following the takeover of Sport Eybl & Sports Experts by the British sports retailer Sports Direct in 2014, the Sport Eybl brand was finally mothballed in 2017. The Baumax DIY chain took over its Eastern European expansion and was broken up in 2015 at the behest of its creditors. The majority of Baumax stores in Austria were taken over by the German DIY chain Obi.