110 YEARS selling international MENSWEAR

The son of a merchant from Skælskør, with a commercial education from Skive, this young man had great expectations for the future and his ambitions were much too great to be satisfied by a position as a clerk in a general store. He spotted the shop to let just across from the train station on the corner of Ryesgade.

The business – “Flip Centralen” – was looking for new owners. He promptly offered the money he had for travelling and took over the business along with a batch of raincoats and umbrellas. He leased the shop but already by 11 May 1910, the daily newspaper Aarhus Stiftstidende included a notice under “Legal Announcements”, stating that Axel Kaufmann had now acquired ‘Flip Centralen’ from the previous owner.

After the expansion, Axel Kaufmann’s name was placed on the front of the store. The business developed into a fashionable menswear store, where customers could buy modern fashionwear with an international look. And the local men would now wear clothing influenced by trends in Berlin, Paris and London because Kaufmann absorbed all of these styles during his field trips across Europe. Perhaps he was very impressed by Kaufhaus Des Westens, which opened with a great deal of ceremony in the German capital only a few years before he purchased ‘Flip Centralen’ in Arhus.

Depression, expansion and Harley-Davidson

The Wall Street Crash of 1929 destroyed European economies. This caused prices to rise dramatically in Germany and suddenly a loaf of bread cost several million marks. Unemployment exploded in Denmark and life became a struggle for survival for thousands of families. It would not be until after the Second World War and almost the end of the decade before there were signs of progress and improving living standards.

Despite this, the 1930s was the decade where Axel Kaufmann really expanded the business. The loose shirt collars were now replaced with collars that were part of the shirt. The next logical step was to produce his own shirts. A shirt factory was established in Jægergaardsgade in Arhus. The factory later moved to a 2-storey building in Fredensgade.

Alex Kaufmann was a man in a hurry. As the proud owner of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle he had speed too. With a maximun speed of 90 km/h he drove his Harley kilometre after kilometre along the Jutlandic roads, looking for new business opportunities. Soon the Kaufmann chain had stores in Fredericia and Kolding in the south, and in Aalborg and Viborg in the north. In 1935, he opened the doors to his modern, main business on Strøget in Aarhus.

Kaufmann used the Harley’s sidecar to transport stock and he would personally stock the shelves in the stores with the latest in menswear. And at the end of the decade when the world moved towards another world war, he opened a store on the corner of Nygade and Skoubogade. A prominent address, more familiar to modern shoppers as Strøget.

Peacetime – new outlets

Denmark was occupied for a time during the war. A shortage of goods and sabotage made it difficult to maintain regular supplies. But the Kaufmann stores survived – even the store in Guldsmedegade in Aarhus, which in the last winter of the war was badly damaged by a contra-sabotage action carried out by the German paramilitary terror group called The Peter Group.

After the war ended and Denmark was liberated – the USA supported Europe economically with the Marshall Plan. Life started to improve in Denmark, and during the 1950s and 1960s the Kaufmann chain expanded with more stores. Today the Kaufmann chain has 17 stores in Denmark and also has the national chain Quint and the Axel stores in Copenhagen and Arhus. A large part of Kaufmann’s activities occur online via online stores. But even though Kaufmann keeps up with the times, its focus is still menswear. The stores are organised around the major fashion brands. But in contrast to Kaufmann senior’s ideas, the clothes are now presented as outfits, where the customers can find all of the products that they need to create a specific look in the same store.

Man of action

Axel Kaufmann could easily have been the a role model for Lise Nørgaard’s textile dealer, Mads Andersen-Skjern, in classic Danish TV series ‘Matador’. Axel Kaufmann could be penny-pinching too. Perhaps even because of this, and because through a generation, the Kaufmann chain stayed true to a concept that required good business acumen and a sharp eye for developments in menswear – Alex Kaufmann was able to create a chain of stores where men could dress themselves in style. Axel Kaufmann died in 1970. Today the Kaufmann chain is run by his grandchildren Mette and Henrik Kaufmann.

For the fashion industry, it is all about using new technology to learn about customers and their needs. Below we give you a small selection of the trends that may influence the year’s developments when it comes to menswear

Adidas shoes with a built-in travel card for the underground

In Berlin, the Adidas Group and the city’s collective transport system have combined two items that many people use daily - shoes and a train ticket. The shoes are relatively expensive at about DKK 1,400 – but compared to paying for a year’s travel card for the underground (U-bahn) in the German capital, which costs DKK 5,000, these Adidas shoes are a great investment. The provide free access to all of the underground, buses and trams up until 31 December 2018.

Initially, 500 of the special shoes were available for purchase. But it is a great example of how a brand and can combine with a new technology – and satisfy several needs at the same time.

The Tie Bar is coming back to reality

The Tie Bar started in cyberspace. But over time, ties and accessories were also sold in pop-up-shops, which were meant to only exist for short periods of time. But the chain earned money in the physical shops and decided to make them permanent.

The chain uses the stores actively to improve the offers available online. It tests new products and uses experience from the personal stylists who are hired to help the customers. At the same time, the chain uses online data about customers’ residences to decide where the new stores should be opened. An example of how data collection and physical presence are helping to refine user experience.