From "roof maker" to e-commerce company
Christian Ströhle on the story of how Schirmmacher combines an innovative business model with a traditional product.
Even though Christian Ströhle's great-grandfather would hardly have called it that, he too founded a “start-up” back then.
Because repairing umbrellas was his business, everyone in the village called him the “roof maker”.
People would see him out and about on his bicycle, picking up umbrellas from his customers or returning ones he had already repaired.
A generation later, Christian Ströhle's grandfather also gained a foothold in the umbrella trade and took the business model further by building his own umbrella manufactory.
This small umbrella manufactory no longer had just one village as its target market, but supplied umbrellas to the whole of Austria and, in part, to Germany and Switzerland right up into the 1980s. Over time, however, the demands placed on the product changed, and umbrellas were brought to market at ever lower prices from Asia, so that the umbrella manufactory in Götzis no longer exists today. What has remained unbroken, however, is the love of the umbrella. The product itself has not fundamentally changed; above all, it is the business models that have shifted.
The vision of promotional umbrellas
Since his youth, Christian Ströhle has been an attentive observer of these economic developments, and he eventually arrived at the vision of bringing the family umbrella business into the present day, founding the company Schirmmacher.
As outdoor advertising has become ever more important and umbrellas came into focus as an ideal advertising space, the umbrella business in its 4th generation specialised in custom-made and printed umbrellas, parasols and tents. Companies of all kinds throughout Austria, Germany, Switzerland and, by now, Poland too are supplied with promotional umbrellas and printed tents. Selected manufacturers in Europe and Asia produce the products. Most customers find their way to Schirmmacher via the internet and learn about the range on the website, or call the umbrella experts directly.
The aim is to design the perfect, individually printed umbrella or printed tent for every company and every company logo, without ever losing sight of an excellent price-performance ratio.
Schirmmacher today
Today, Schirmmacher can be regarded as a modern e-commerce company focused on the B2B sector. The wealth of positive customer feedback and the steady growth in customers regularly encourage the Schirmmacher team in everything they do. Every day, a great deal of energy goes into continually optimising the service and further improving the product range. Only in this way can quality products be offered at the lowest possible prices while continuing to ensure the high satisfaction of customers.