The Store Makers celebrate 150 years of the Umdasch Group - The new brand is officially presented
The foundation stone for the Umdasch Group of today was laid in 1868. On the occasion of the 150th anniversary the Store Makers at umdasch invited guests to the event “The Store Makers’ Jubilee” in Vienna and presented their new brand image to over 200 international guests.
The Store Makers’ Jubilee
14 June 2018. Palais Niederösterreich in Vienna. Silvio Kirchmair – the CEO of umdasch The Store Makers – welcomed over 200 international customers, long-standing companions and partners. The occasion: 150 years ago – in 1868 – the foundation for the Umdasch Group of today was laid. It was in that year that Stefan Hopferwieser, the great-grandfather of the present owners, Hilde Umdasch and her brother Alfred Umdasch, was granted the concession for a joinery business. The roots of today’s Umdasch Group with its two core areas formwork and shopfitting can be traced back to that event. “Looking back over 150 years of history makes us proud and humble. Proud of our long-standing customers, partners and companions. And humble because with our attitude and our values, and also with the pioneering spirit which has prevailed in our company for 150 years, we have succeeded in growing into a concern which operates on the international stage,” commented Silvio Kirchmair.
Fascinating lectures – a musical journey through time
What do a world-famous media artist, an American retail prophet and a NASA astronaut have in common? All three provided the guests at the 150-year celebration on 14 June in the heart of Vienna with fascinating glimpses into the subject of stagecraft and shared with the guests from the international retail scene their personal view of the (retail) world. Thus the multi-media artist André Heller, the retail prophet Doug Stephens and the NASA commander Terry Virts stood on the stage of the historic hall of the local parliament in Palais Niederösterreich and filled the space with their life stories and prognoses for the future. The series of lectures was harmoniously accompanied by a musical journey in time with Austrian composers and the Festival Orchestra of Lower Austria. During the subsequent Gala Dinner in the new Weltmuseum Wien the orchestra, together with Axel Herrig as the actor playing Falco, brought an Austrian pop legend back to life. Apart from the culinary specialities the guests were also able to visit the two “Umdasch Pavilions” in the Weltmuseum with displays showing the historical development of the concern and its visions for the future world economy. The special exhibition is open to the public and can be viewed until the end of November.
umdasch The Store Makers: new brand name, new logo
During the course of the jubilee event the Store Makers – as umdasch has called its employees for some time now – unveiled the secret of the new brand name and the new logo: “A furniture manufacturer has become a service provider, and an analogue producer of ‘hardware’ has become a company with a digital focus,” is how CEO Silvio Kirchmair explained the decision. “In order to do justice to this broad portfolio of services, from June 2018 today’s Umdasch Shopfitting Group will become ‘umdasch’, with the additional slogan ‘The Store Makers’”, continued Kirchmair. The new brand name and the new corporate design of the Store Makers will underline the wide-ranging and individual competences of the concern – Consulting & Value Engineering, Project Management, General Contracting, Shop Equipment, Digital Retail und Shop Academy – and will thus position umdasch within the market in the long term in an even more authentic and unique manner. In fact, the new name was derived from the English expression “Place Making”. In English this term unites the development, use and projection across multifunctional public spaces and property projects.
shops 150
The new customer magazine of umdasch, shops 150, has also been published to reflect the 150th anniversary. The issue number was rounded upwards in a symbolic gesture. In the magazine you will find interesting interviews and reportages with André Heller, Doug Stephens and Harrods. Moreover the owners of the Umdasch Group, Hilde Umdasch and Alfred Umdasch, offer the readers of shops highly personal insight and reveal the factors which have paved the path to success for the company.
The new website: www.umdasch.com
Last but not least, the Store Makers have taken the plunge into a new age of online communication with their new website – which will be found with immediate effect under www.umdasch.com. It includes 360-degree reference videos and also a trend wall, which provides at frequent intervals interesting reports and insights into the spheres of shopfitting and digital retailing. umdasch is aiming more than ever to live up to its position as the driving force for trends relating to the design of experience worlds at the at the Point of Sale.
“150 years are not a guarantee for a successful future, but they provide a very good starting point for success. During the past decades we have created the framework to allow us to face the future as an economically sound company with entrepreneurial energy,” observed Silvio Kirchmair in his concluding words of thanks to the many long-standing customers and partners at the Store Makers’ Jubilee in Vienna.
