2018 was the second consecutive year slightly in the red for German brand Gabor Shoes, which celebrates 100 years of activity this year. Gabor concluded 2018 with 377 million euro of revenue, -3.3% in comparison to the 383 million euro in 2017. The number of shoes sold by the brand was just under 9 million pairs. The main brand, Gabor, sold 333 million euro worth of products (51% of which are exports), while Camel sold 34 million, and licensed manufacturing contributed 10 million euro to the total. The number of employees working for the group went from 3,472 to 3,377, 448 in Germany, and nearly 3,000 split between the company’s sites in Portugal and Slovakia. “2018 was a very challenging year for our commercial partners, at a national level, and export-wise. It was characterized by adverse meteorological conditions and various unusual factors”, stated Gabor’s ceo, Achim Gabor.
Result aside, Rosenheim’s footwear group celebrates 1 century of activity this year, launching the motto “100 years of love for shoes”. The company’s roots, in fact, go back to 1919, when Pio Gabor, grandfather of the current ceo, opened Slesia Strehlitz, a shoes and leather goods’ store. Later on, in 1949 in Barmstedt, near Hamburg, the production plant that manufacture women’s shoes was created, and then moved to Rosenheim, in Bavaria, in 1966. Achim Gabor took over as ceo of the company in 2005, replacing his father, and remained true to the company’s values: “Gabor – he says -, makes high quality shoes with great skill and attention to details”. And it wants to continue doing so.
