Bree Taschen: Company bankrupt! Even the Chancellor loves her… | News

2024-01-11 17:51:07

Hamburg – Almost every woman knows the handbags from the German cult brand Bree. Clear lines, noble materials, valuable leather. Men also appreciate this – for example, Chancellor Olaf Scholz (65, SPD), who has been carrying a Bree briefcase with him for 40 years.

Bree has had success since 1970. But now the company from Hamburg is in difficult financial waters. It had to file for bankruptcy – for the second time since 2019. 40 employees fear for their jobs. Insolvency administrator Dietmar Penzlin has taken over the helm. He is now looking for solutions on how Bree could be saved. A new investor may be found quickly.

Bree “Times 16” briefcase always with him: Olaf Scholz upon arrival in New York

Foto: picture alliance/dpa

Bree stores will remain open for now. Online trading should also continue.

Bree was taken over by the Portuguese automotive supplier Coindu in 2019. Sales apparently stalled recently. Current business figures are not available, the last data comes from 2021 and 2020. There was a loss of around five million euros in each case.

Classically beautiful: a red Bree women’s handbag

Foto: Getty Images

How did Bree become a cult?

In 1970, designer Wolf Peter Bree and his wife Renate often found that conventional handbags were often not elegant enough. Your recipe, however: lots of natural leather, excellence down to the last detail.

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That was received. From 1980 onwards, branches were even founded in Tokyo and Beverly Hills (USA). In 2001, two sons took over the management. Philipp Bree sold his share to private investors in 2012. At the beginning of 2018, co-owner Axel Bree was the last representative of the founding family to leave.

By the way, Chancellor Scholz once paid 890 German marks for his iconic black Bree briefcase. A proud price for the then legal trainee. His bag model is called “Times 16”, is 40 by 34 centimeters in size and apparently really indestructible. Museums are already fighting over who can exhibit the bag.