'''Gebr. Heinemann SE & Co. KG''' is a Hamburg-based distributor and retailer in the international travel market.
History
Gebr. Heinemann was founded in Hamburg, Germany, on November 1, 1879, by Heinrich Christian Carl Heinemann and his brother Carl Friedrich Eduard Heinemann.[1] The brothers began with duty- and tax-free wholesale trade in tobacco products and liquor.The focus was on supplying ship chandlers and shipping companies.[2][3] The company was based in Hamburg's Speicherstadt warehouse district.[4] In 1910, a major fire destroyed all the goods stored in the port.
In 1903, Heinrich Heinemann's son Otto joined the company as a partner;[5]
Otto's brother Richard also joined the company in 1911.
Due to the latter's untimely death, Otto Heinemann's son Helmut succeeded his as a partner in 1937.[5]
In 1943, during World War II, the company experienced a major fire in the warehouse, in which the warehouse at Sandtorkai was completely destroyed.[5] From the 1950s, Gebr.Heinemann also supplied the new duty-free shops on ferries to Scandinavia with tobacco and confectionery products as well as liquor.In 1953 and 1954, the first airline customers followed (Icelandic Airlines and Deutsche Lufthansa).Because of the new field of air travel, perfume and cosmetics were added to the range, followed later by fashion and accessories, confectionery and gift items.[5]
The first duty-free shop was opened at Frankfurt Airport in 1958. This was operated by the state, supplied by Gebr. Heinemann. On February 16, 1962, large stocks in Hamburg became victims of the storm surge.[6] In 1967, Horst Heinemann founded the subsidiary 'Tabak GmbH' for the tobacco product line.
The company received its first retail concession for duty-free at an airport in 1969 for Cologne/Bonn.Other shops soon followed.[7] In 1978, the warehouse moved to Magdeburger Strasse (now Koreastrasse).In 1979, Gunnar and Claus Heinemann replaced their fathers and continued the family business in the fourth generation.[8] Since 1986, the company headquarters have been located at Kaispeicher B in HafenCity.[4]
When the European Union abolished duty- and tax-free purchasing for travel within the EU on July 1, 1999, the company expanded its market share in Europe,[6] renaming its shops Travel Value.In 2003, a logistics center was built and put into operation in Hamburg-Allermöhe.The warehouse building in the Speicherstadt was converted into the company's headquarters.[9][10]
Since 2008, Gebr. Heinemann has branded some of its self-operated shops under the name "Heinemann Duty Free & Travel Value". As part of this initiative, a new logo was introduced at locations including Frankfurt, starting in 2009. That same year, Gunnar and Claus Heinemann received the Hamburg Founder's Award for Lifetime Achievement, as well as founding their first Asia-based subsidiary Heinemann Asia Pacific with headquarters in Singapore.[1][11] On January 1, 2012, the company changed its legal form from a KG to an SE & Co. KG.[12] In 2013, Gebr.Heinemann founded the subsidiary Heinemann Americas, based in Miami.[13] 2013 marked the year that the company expanded into the American market with Heinemann Americas, based in Miami.The following year, in 2014, a second logistics center was opened in Erlensee.[9]
In 2015, Gebr. Heinemann, in partnership with Unifree, secured the licence for the Istanbul New Airport. That same year, the company established a joint venture with Schiphol Airport Retail at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. Additionally, the company was recognised with the German Retail Prize.
In 2016, the company founded another joint venture with Duty Free International (DFI) from Malaysia. This partnership led to the opening of two duty-free shops: the world's largest duty free shop in Sydney, Australia and the world's largest arrival duty free shop in Oslo.
In 2018, Max Heinemann became the company's fifth-generation CEO.[3]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic since 2020 and the accompanying lockdowns, significantly fewer people traveled than before, resulting in less merchandise being purchased in airport shops. As a result, the company suffered the two worst years in its history. In 2020, it generated only 33% of the previous year's sales.[14][15] Since 2022, the travel retail business has been recovering; due to long waiting times at the airports of the still not fully recovered travel business, airport passengers bought about 20% more than before the pandemic, which also benefited Gebr.Heinemann.[2]
In March 2020, Gebr. Heinemann established a wholly owned subsidiary, Gharage, with the purpose of investing in start-ups within the travel and retail industries.[16] The company partnered with the media brand Highsnobiety in 2022, opening shops in Zurich Airport and Copenhagen Airport.[17] Additionally, it expanded operations into Macau with its first shop within a hotel complex.[1]
Corporate structure
Since 2018, the company's managing director has been Max Heinemann. In 2022, he was joined by Raoul Spanger, who has been serving as a managing director since.[1] Inken Callsen, Florian Seidel, and Kai Deneke serve as members of the executive board.[18][19] Former managing directors Claus Heinemann and Gunnar Heinemann represent the owning family on the Supervisory Board.[1][20]
The company's 2024 sales revenue was EUR 4.3 billion.[21] In 2024, the company employed 10,351 people worldwide.[22]
Gebr. Heinemann operates as a distributor and retailer in over 100 countries.[23] The company has a total of about 500 of its own shops as a retailer at airports (about 340),[24] cruise ships, and border crossings.[20] In addition, the company supplies airports, airlines, cruise ships, border shops, ship chandlers, diplomatic missions, military shops, and duty-free zones around the world.
Gebr. Heinemann and its subsidiaries have shops in Europe, the Middle East, Asia (Heinemann Asia Pacifics), Africa and North America (Heinemann Americas).[25] The company also operates its own logistics centers in the German cities Hamburg-Allermöhe and in Erlensee.[25][26][27]
Products
In the shops operated by Gebr. Heinemann itself, as well as for distribution customers, the company sells branded goods in the fields of cosmetics, alcohol, confectionery, food, tobacco products and fashion. Over half of the income is generated from the sale of alcohol, tobacco and confectionery.[1]
Controversies
Due to collusion with competitor James Richardson over the license to operate duty-free shops at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, the Arbitration Commission of the International Chamber of Commerce ordered the company to pay damages on November 19, 2021.[28] Gebr. Heinemann had applied for the license under the joint venture Alfa, but after secret agreements left the license to James Richardson, for which Gebr. Heinemann was to receive the license for Sydney without competition. Alfa was thus out of the running.
A court in Tel Aviv confirmed the award in the summer of 2022.[14]
Award
2015: German Retail Award of the German Retail Association[29]
External links
References
1.Michael Scheppe: Max Heinemann und Raoul Spanger: Profiteure im Reisechaos. In: Handelsblatt, issue 134/2022, p. 44., 14 July 2022., retrieved 9 January 2023.^
2.Timo Kotowski: Ohne Flug kaum Kunden. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, No. 98, p. 18. 28 April 2021, retrieved 09 January 2023.^
3.Hanna-Lotte Mikuteit: Der neue Chef von 330 Duty-free-Shops. In: Hamburger Abendblatt, p. 5., 7 September 2019, retrieved 9 January 2023.^
4.Lukas Bay: Hanseatische Geschäfte. In: Handelsblatt, No. 42, p. 22. 2 March 2015, retrieved 9 January 2023.^
5.''[http://cdn1.pps-publications.com/airport-business-specials/heinemann-official-report-2014.pdf An official report on Gebr. Heinemann for the aviation community] .'' Airports Council International, 2014, retrieved 1 September 2022.^
6.Cornelis Rattmann: ''Der neue Erfolgskurs der Gebr. Heinemann. Nicht zollfrei, dafür günstig''. In: Welt am Sonntag, No. 36., 8 September 2002, retrieved 9 January 2023.^
7.Hanna-Lotte Mikuteit: Der neue Chef von 330 Duty-free-Shops. In: Hamburger Abendblatt, p. 5., 7 September 2019, retrieved 9 January 2023.^
9.Frank Binder: ''Traditionsfirma Gebr. Heinemann stärkt Standort mit neuem Logistikzentrum in Allermöhe''. In: Die Welt, No. 261, p. 37. 8 November 2003, retrieved 9 January 2023.^
10.Von Erlensee in die Welt: Heinemann baut zentrales Logistikzentrum. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, No. 142, p. 52. 21 June 2012, retrieved 9 January 2023.^
11.Hermann Olbermann: Russen sind uns lieb. In: Wirtschaftswoche, No. 21, p. 65., 23 May 2011, retrieved 9 January 2023.^
23.At a glance Gebr. Heinemann, retrieved 11 June 2025^
24.Henryk Hielscher, Lukas Zdrzalek: "Blick in die Hölle". In: Wirtschaftswoche, No. 3, p. 46., 15 January 2021, retrieved 9 January 2023.^
25.Gebr. Heinemann SE: ''Konzernabschluss zum Geschäftsjahr vom 01.01.2021 bis zum 31.12.2021. (Consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021.) In: Bundesanzeiger''. published 18 January 2023.^
26.Bernd Maienschein: Oslo (OSL) erster Flughafen mit AGV-Betrieb. In: Schweizer Maschinenmarkt Online. 1 January 2013, retrieved 9 January 2023.^
