A traditional company under pressure: The Carl Semler shoe factory, founded in 1863, wants to restructure itself under self-management. The company submitted a corresponding application to the Pirmasens district court on January 16, 2024. Managing director Stefan Markert, who runs the company together with Jürgen Becker, emphasized to schuhkurier that Semler would continue to operate as usual: “We will set up new ones. I am very confident that we will succeed.” The application was submitted at a time when the company can still be restructured.
Markert cites severe sales losses in recent years, coupled with a high level of debt, as the reasons for the difficult situation. The changes in the market, especially the loss of numerous shoe retailers, have put the shoe manufacturer with production facilities in Pirmasens and Hungary in difficult waters.
The external influences were particularly drastic during the corona pandemic. According to the Northdata portal, the women’s shoe manufacturer closed the Corona years 2020 and 2021 with annual deficits; In 2022 there was a minimal annual surplus. In 2021 and 2022, the company received state aid. The company said that the current geopolitical conflicts also contributed to the situation: “We tried to cushion the decline in sales by reducing costs, finding new sources of income and taking out loans. Unfortunately, these measures could not compensate for the decline in sales.”
As Stefan Markert explains to schuhkurier, he is receiving a lot of support from the market – especially in the current situation. This is where our many years of good cooperation pay off. The response to the collections has been consistently positive. Retailers are highly satisfied with sales, product quality and delivery reliability. Markert emphasizes that all customers will continue to be served as usual and that no disruption to the supply chain is expected.
The restructuring expert and lawyer Lukas Eisenhuth (Abel and colleagues) was appointed as general representative. The administrator is Dr. Blank from Saarbrücken. The process should involve all those affected – employees, works councils, banks, customers/suppliers and all creditors and shareholders. The managing directors remain fully capable of acting.
The shoe manufacturer Semler has a long tradition: in 1863, the journeyman shoemaker Carl Semler founded his business. Today the company is run by Stefan Markert and Jürgen Becker in the fifth generation. Since the once oldest shoe factory in Germany, Peter Kaiser, no longer produces shoes in Pirmasens, Semler has become the oldest shoe manufacturer in Germany. In Pirmasens, the company employs 70 people; 180 in our own factory in Hungary. According to Stefan Markert, daily production is around 1,000 pairs of shoes.
