The person who realizes ideas at the Krohn shoe store
The size of the Krohn branches varies from 600 sqm to 60 sqm – the smallest area is a Birkenstock/Ecco shop. The collaboration with the sandal manufacturer is close, says Niklas Krohn. Nevertheless, brand procurement is one of the biggest challenges for him. The retailer reports that the Swiss sneaker manufacturer On’s decision to reorganize its sales department “hit him hard.” He had built up “a certain level of expertise” with the brand’s products and had a large selection in his stores. The fact that as a shoe retailer he is no longer supplied,
The sports retailer, some of whom had worked much less intensively with the brand, was hurting the entrepreneur. Getting access to interesting brands is a real problem, says Niklas Krohn. The lack of personnel also occasionally causes problems for him, as do rising costs and the associated question of how one can still generate the necessary gross profits. This is by no means trivial given the special focus of Schuhhaus Krohn: 70% of sales come from seasonal business, 30% are generated in the off-season. The vacation time, which begins around Easter and lasts until October, must be used well. The pandemic has extended the season somewhat and made more people want to go to the sea in winter too. Nevertheless, there are Krohn locations where there is hardly anything going on in the winter months. Then the team, 70 full-time and part-time employees as well as temporary employees, goes into a kind of hibernation, whereby – this is important to Niklas Krohn – all employees will continue to be employed in order to get started again from Easter.