“We have been very cautious in recent years,” says Bernd Hummel at the beginning of the conversation with the schuhkurier editorial team in mid-December. “Little has been heard or seen from us.” This also has to do with the fact that he himself now acts more in the background “and that those who are at the front are now more active in digital media.” And Hummel adds: “Not my world anymore.” Now 76 years old, he is often asked: “How much longer will you be doing it?” The entrepreneur says it’s a stupid question: “I’ll do it as long as I can. I have enough to do. I’ll always be doing something.” That’s how it was in the past few seasons, when Bernd Hummel Holding and its subsidiaries appeared sporadically in the industry news: the course was set internally. The decisive factor for this was a decision made by the two daughters Anne-Katrin (47) and Julia Hummel (45). They had come to the realization that they did not want to continue the business in the way their father had done for decades. In order to be able to properly operate design, development, marketing, production, supply chain management, sales and, last but not least, the real estate business in which Hummel is active, you have to be on site in Pirmasens, explains Bernd Hummel. For him, a child of the city, this was never a question. But Anne-Katrin lives in Frankfurt and Julia lives in Hamburg – Pirmasens was not a long-term option for either of them. Therefore, Bernd Hummel Holding, under which the licensed brand Kangaroos, its own brand Flip-Flop and a real estate company are managed, was reorganized. The essence of this was to stop product development, sourcing, production and sales for the shoe brands and to find sublicensees for the Kangaroos licensed brand as well as licensees for Flip-Flop.
Kangaroos Super Shoes
In a first step, the Kangaroos Super Shoes line was licensed to the company TS Brandmanagement (TSBM) for the S/S 2023 season. This step was carried out very successfully, says Bernd Hummel. The founder and owner of TS Brandmanagement is Torsten Schmidt (52). He had previously worked at Kangaroos for more than ten years and had gained extensive experience in development and sales. With TSBM, Schmidt took the plunge into self-employment and took over the development of the Kangaroos Super Shoes for adults and children. In addition, his company also manages the Jako (sports) and Kastinger (outdoor) brands. Kangaroos Super Shoes are in consumer price ranges and are mainly represented in specialist stores.
