Tchibo

Tchibo is a German chain of coffee retailers and cafés, also known for its weekly-changing range of other products. The latter includes: clothing, household items, electronics and electrical appliances. In Germany, Tchibo's slogan is "Every week a new world" (German: Jede Woche eine neue Welt);.

Tchibo has 12,300 employees worldwide (2012), of which 8,400 are located in Germany. The company is led by Dr. Markus Conrad (Chairman of the Executive Committee).

Tchibo expanded its product range, and is now selling services such as travel, insurance and mobile phone contracts. With over 1000 shops, Tchibo is one of Germany's biggest shop chains. The company is based in Hamburg.

Tchibo's coffee is sold in supermarkets in the United States, Canada, the Czech Republic, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Hungary, Ukraine, Syria, Israel, Jordan, Russia, United Arab Emirates, Poland and the United Kingdom.

The Tchibo holding company, which in 2007 changed its name from Tchibo Holding AG to Maxingvest AG. It is 100% owned by three members of the Herz family, Ingeburg Herz (Max Herz's widow), and two of her sons, Michael Herz and Wolfgang Herz. In 2003, they bought out their brother, Gunter, and sister, Daniela Herz-Schnoekel. In 2008, their brother Joachim died in a motorboat accident.^[5] It holds 100 percent of Tchibo GmbH and is the largest shareholder of the listed company Beiersdorf.

In 2002, Tchibo held 850 shops and 22,000 so-called Frische-Depots in bread shops and supermarkets, where shelves bearing the company's "brand" sell non-food articles, like bicycles, towels, and outerware.

Tchibo was founded in 1949 in Hamburg by Carl Tchilinghiryan and Max Herz and still maintains its headquarters in the north of the city. The name Tchibo is an abbreviation for Tchilling and Bohnen (beans, i.e. coffee beans). During its formative years, Tchibo concentrated on a mail order service of freshly roasted coffee beans, processed in the company's own roasting facility in the Hamburg district of Hoheluft.

In 1977, Tchibo purchased shares of Beiersdorf and in 1980, the company became the majority shareholder of the Hamburg cigarette producer Reemtsma. The shares were sold in 2002 to Imperial Tobacco for €5.2 billion. After buying its rival Eduscho in 1997, Tchibo became market leader in Germany with 20%. In the 1990s, Tchibo began to expand to countries outside Germany, and it now has shops in Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Turkey. Entry into the US market was planned in early 2000s, but was later cancelled.

Tchibo sold the cigarette brand Davidoff to the UK-based company Imperial Tobacco for €540 mil. in 2006, the rights for the brand Davidoff café remained with Tchibo.

The company’s reorientation program was presented to Tchibo employees at a staff meeting on 7 December 2007. The new motto "Stärken stärken 2010" ("Strengthen our strengths in 2010") is intended to convey that all changes associated with the programme are to be concluded by 2010, by when the company hopes to have returned to its traditional strengths and growth.

In the UK, following a consultation period, Tchibo GB decided to close half of its existing retail stores and re-structure the head office and field teams. The UK board was reduced from 11 directors to four.

On 26 November 2008, a Tchibo spokesman announced that the concessions in Somerfield and Sainsbury's would close in 2009 and blamed difficult macroeconomic conditions in Britain. Tchibo's lack of success in the British market was summarized in the Retail Week, 14 February 2008 issue, in which Tchibo was described as "a glorified pound shop". It has since been confirmed that Tchibo GB would leave the UK market 'as soon as possible'; all of the Tchibo GB stores were closed by the end of October 2009. Also the UK online webstore closed 1 September 2010.

Tchibo has started distribution of its brand Davidoff café to the US.