Schwager Gmbh&Co.KG

What Schwager Gmbh&Co.KG does

Schwager GmbH & Co. KG is a privately held, family-owned German department store chain founded in 1923 in Stadtilm, Thuringia, and currently headquartered in Holzminden, Lower Saxony. The company operates six traditional department stores under the Kaufhaus Schwager and Modehaus Schwager brands across Holzminden, Eisenach, Steinheim, Seesen, Bad Pyrmont, and Bad Langensalza, totalling approximately 14,000 square meters of retail floor space. Its core assortment spans men's, women's, children's and young fashion, underwear, bags and accessories, home textiles, household goods, toys, gifts, and sports equipment — the latter partly operated through an Intersport franchise partnership at multiple locations. The business model is a direct-to-consumer omnichannel retail operation anchored in physical department stores in pedestrian zones of small and medium-sized German cities, with an adjacent WooCommerce-based online shop limited to gift voucher sales (€10–€200 denominations, €3.90 domestic shipping, PayPal and credit card payments). Supporting services include a customer loyalty card (3% annual bonus, item reservation, event invitations), alteration services, free gift wrapping, special-order fulfillment, in-store cafés, and at the Eisenach location a curated amenity cluster (bio-bakery café, hair salon, travel agency, underground parking). Technology infrastructure is standard: WooCommerce storefront hosted externally by neos Medienagentur (Einbeck), Google Analytics with anonymized IP for traffic analysis, WhatsApp Business communications via the Mateo platform, PayPal and credit card payment processing, and reCAPTCHA bot protection. The company is GDPR-compliant and certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework via Google.

The business is wholly family-controlled with no external investors; its personally liable partner is Kaufhaus Schwager GmbH (HRB 110411), managed by Sandra Trapp and Matthias Kumlehn, who assumed leadership in 2022 following the death of family patriarch Ralf Schwager. Geographic reach is restricted to three German federal states (Lower Saxony, Thuringia, North Rhine-Westphalia). Customers are general consumers in regional mid-sized cities, with the value proposition centered on branded product assortment (Markenartikel), personalized advisory service, in-store amenities, and central-city accessibility rather than price competition. The most recent material operating change is the closure of the Seesen Mode & Sport physical store, with orders continued via phone and online channels.

Name

Schwager Gmbh&Co.KG

Legal name

Schwager GmbH & Co. KG

Website

https://schwager.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1923

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Schwager GmbH & Co. KG is a family-owned German department store chain operating six traditional Kaufhaus Schwager and Modehaus Schwager stores across Lower Saxony, Thuringia, and North Rhine-Westphalia, selling fashion, household goods, sports equipment (via Intersport franchise), and gifts to general consumers in small and medium-sized German cities, with a limited WooCommerce gift-voucher online channel.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Holzminden

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Retail Product Sales: Core revenue generation through physical retail store sales across multiple departments including menswear, womenswear, children's fashion, underwear, bags and accessories, home textiles, household goods, gifts, magazines and books, and sports equipment.
2. Gift Vouchers: Sale of gift vouchers in denominations of €10, €20, €50, €100, and €200. Available for purchase online through the company's e-commerce platform.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Schwager GmbH & Co. KG operates traditional multi-category department stores under the Kaufhaus Schwager and Modehaus Schwager banners across six German cities, selling branded fashion, household goods, toys, and children's products. The company also runs INTERSPORT Schwager sporting goods stores as a franchise partner and operates a small WooCommerce-based online shop that sells gift certificates redeemable in the physical stores.

Product overview

Schwager GmbH & Co. KG operates a network of traditional department stores under the Kaufhaus Schwager and Modehaus Schwager brands across seven locations in Germany (Holzminden, Eisenach, Steinheim, Seesen, Bad Pyrmont, and Bad Langensalza). The company also operates Sport Schwager departments under the INTERSPORT franchise. The core offering consists of fashion retail (men's, women's, children's, young fashion), accessories, home textiles, household goods, toys, and sports equipment. Complementing the physical stores is an online shop (schwager.de/shop) offering gift certificates. Additional services include customer loyalty cards (Kundenkarte), gift wrapping, alteration services, special orders, in-store cafés, and parking facilities. The product portfolio is unified around providing a comprehensive shopping experience combining fashion, lifestyle, and sports offerings with personalized customer services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Kaufhaus Schwager / Modehaus Schwager Department Stores Multi-category department stores operating under the Kaufhaus Schwager and Modehaus Schwager names across six German cities (Holzminden, Steinheim, Seesen, Eisenach, Bad Pyrmont, and Bad Langensalza), offering branded women's, men's, and children's fashion, household goods, toys, and gift items to local consumers and families.
• INTERSPORT Schwager Sporting Goods Stores Franchise sporting goods stores operated under the INTERSPORT brand within Schwager locations, selling sports equipment, apparel, footwear, and accessories to regional sports enthusiasts and families, with locations in Eisenach (since 1990) and Holzminden.
• Schwager Gift Certificate (Geschenkgutschein)

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration8 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• IntersportcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorIntersport Schwager operates as a franchise/partner store within Schwager locations in Holzminden (Markt 4, 37603 Holzminden), Eisenach (Georgenstraße 8, 99817 Eisenach), and Seesen (Markthaus opposite the main store, nearly 400 sqm). Intersport is a leading sports retailer brand offering sports equipment and athletic wear. Schwager locations feature brands including adidas, Nike, Asics, Puma, Jack Wolfskin, McKinley, and others.
• Café SpieglerminorOthersIn-store café partner at Eisenach location offering bio-bakery products. Provides food service amenity for shopping customers.
• Hair Salon 'Enorm'minorOthersHair salon located on the ground floor of Eisenach store, offering styling services to complement fashion purchases.
• Reisebüro (Travel Agency)minorOthersTravel agency partner located within the Eisenach store complex, providing travel booking services alongside retail shopping.
• Neelmeier GrundstücksverwaltungminorOthersReal estate management partner involved in the expansion of the Bad Pyrmont location, where the adjacent property at Brunnenstraße 13 was incorporated into the store.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves24 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• C&A: Major European fashion retailer with a broad multi-category apparel and accessories assortment and extensive German store network. Comparable to Schwager's fashion offering but at substantially larger scale and with stronger brand pricing power.
• INTERSPORT Deutschland: National sports retail franchise under which Schwager's Intersport stores operate. Directly comparable for the sporting goods portion of Schwager's business, sharing brand portfolio and marketing infrastructure but operating at vastly larger scale across Germany.

Direct peers

• Peek & Cloppenburg: German fashion retailer operating department store-style menswear and womenswear outlets across German city centers. Comparable to Schwager for the fashion/textile portion of its assortment and city-center store model.
• SportScheck: German multi-channel sporting goods retailer offering apparel, footwear, and equipment from major brands. Comparable to Schwager's Intersport operations for sports assortment, brand mix, and target customer profile.
• NKD: German value retailer of fashion, textiles, and household goods with a strong footprint in small and medium-sized cities. Comparable to Schwager in target market and assortment breadth, particularly for budget-conscious family shoppers.
• Ernsting's family: German family-owned retail chain specializing in textiles, underwear, and household basics with hundreds of stores across small and mid-sized German cities. Comparable to Schwager as another German family retailer serving similar regional demographics.
• TK Maxx: Off-price multi-category retailer offering branded fashion, home, and gifts at discount prices through a treasure-hunt shopping format. Comparable to Schwager's breadth of fashion, household, and gift categories with a differentiated value proposition for mid-market shoppers.
• Woolworth GmbH: German variety/general merchandise retailer with a broad assortment across household goods, textiles, and miscellaneous items at value price points. Comparable to Schwager's department store breadth, with a similar focus on smaller and mid-sized German cities.
• Galeria Karstadt Kaufhaus: Germany's largest department store chain, operating multi-department stores across city centers. Directly comparable to Schwager as a German department store retailer offering fashion, household goods, and lifestyle products, although Galeria operates at significantly larger scale and has gone through repeated insolvency proceedings.

Regional players

• Klingel Group: German distance-selling retailer of fashion, household goods, and lifestyle products primarily operating through catalogs and e-commerce. Comparable to Schwager for assortment overlap and target demographic, though Klingel is digital-first and operates pan-European rather than through physical city-center stores.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/SchwagerHolzminden
• Instagraminstagram.com/schwager_holzminden
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/schwager-gmbh&co-kg

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Schwager Gmbh&Co.KG