Company history of PICARD 2.0
THE STORY OF PICARD
Established in 1928
PICARD is a young family business that has lived the love of craftsmanship, fashion and people since 1928. As a result, we have a long and successful company history that has seen many advances as well as social changes.
Our company was founded in 1928 by Martin Picard and his sons Edmund and Alois. When the first collection was finished, Alois Picard transported it on his own bicycle from Obertshausen to Offenbach. In the years that followed, PICARD grew steadily. In 1935, the company introduced large-scale production of leather goods for the first time. At that time, PICARD employed 100 people. The factory in Obertshausen was then opened in 1949 and by the end of the 1960s, over 1,000 people were employed at this location.
In the 1970s, the company, like all companies in the leather goods industry around Offenbach, suffered from imports from South America and the Far East. As a result, part of the production was relocated abroad in 1976 with the establishment of a branch in Tunisia. As part of this change, the management of PICARD also changed when Thomas Picard was appointed to the management team. This was followed by further internationalization of production, so that in 1995 another foreign factory was opened in Bangladesh, where at the same time investments were made in the company's own kindergartens and a local school. In 2008, production was expanded at the main factory in Obertshausen and in 2011 another factory was opened in Ukraine. During this time, the name PICARD became a household name, so that in 2002 45 percent of women in Germany owned a PICARD bag.
In 2015, PICARD's management changed once again when Georg Picard, Thomas Picard's nephew, took over the reins. The company is now run by the 4th generation. Under Georg's leadership, branding and e-commerce were greatly expanded. PICARD thus gained an even stronger online presence than before. However, with a large company comes great responsibility, including when it comes to sustainability. Since then, PICARD has been making sure that everything is done to protect the environment, from production to social aspects, and that employees work under social and fair conditions and continue to be supported.
In the wake of the Corona pandemic, PICARD ran into financial difficulties, mainly due to temporary closures of stationary retail as part of the lockdown and the resulting drop in sales. However, closure was averted as part of an insolvency under self-administration and the associated restructuring and reorientation. The company currently has seven brand stores at Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin airports. We also have a stronger online presence these days to ensure that our traditional family business will continue to exist for a long time to come. Since the end of 2020, PICARD's focus has been on digitizing retail and, in addition to stationary retail, on expanding direct sales channels. In the future, PICARD will continue to focus on what has been the guarantee of success over the decades: passing on traditions, strictly adhering to our values and our passion for aesthetic and functional companions for a lifetime.