KiK

KiK Textilien und Non-Food GmbH is a German clothing discount store chain headquartered in Bönen.

Overview

KiK was founded in 1994 by Stefan Heinig and the holding company Tengelmann Group.[1] KiK is an acronym for "Kunde ist König" .[2]

KiK is the largest textile discounter chain in Germany and operates about 3,500 shops in Germany, Austria (since 1998), Slovenia and Czech Republic (since 2007), Hungary and Slovakia (since 2008), Croatia (since 2011), Poland (since March 2012), and Netherlands (2013).[3] KiK opened the first stores in Italy (2017), Romania (2018) and Portugal (2022).[4]

Criticism

Building collapse at Savar

On 24 April 2013, the eight-story Rana Plaza commercial building collapsed in Savar, a sub-district near Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. At least 1,127 people died and over 2,438 were injured.[15] The factory housed several separate garment factories employing around 5,000 people,[16] and manufactured apparel for brands including the Benetton Group, Joe Fresh,[17] The Children's Place, Primark, Monsoon, and Dressbarn.[18][19] Of the 29 brands identified as having sourced products from the Rana Plaza factories, only 9 attended meetings held in November 2013 to agree a proposal on compensation to the victims. KiK was the second German company to contribute to the compensation fund. Several companies refused to sign including Walmart, Carrefour, Bonmarché, Mango, Auchan. The agreement was also signed by Primark, Loblaws, Bonmarché and El Corte Inglés.[20]

The retailer was one of the first German signatories of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh set up in May 2013 to inspect and remediate factories for fire, electrical and building safety and was also among a group of global union federations and brands that have prepared the continuation of the work of the Accord in Bangladesh once its five-year remit comes to an end in 2018.[21]

Swastika-styled clothing racks

In 2009, a man from the German state Schleswig-Holstein pressed charges against KiK under Strafgesetzbuch section 86a, which outlaws the "use of symbols of unconstitutional organisations", for the chain using swastika-styled clothing racks in their shops.[22] KiK describes the allegations as incomprehensible.[23]

Wages for factory workers

KiK has been criticised by the Clean Clothes Campaign for their bad practices in countries such as Bangladesh, where factory workers are paid low wages.[24] In 2006, KiK has published a Code of Conduct, which imposes an obligation to suppliers to pay compensation to workers that cover at least the legal or the industrial minimum wage level, whichever is higher.[25] KiK CEO Zahn has appealed on the government of Bangladesh to raise the minimum wage by ten percent.

Secret credit ratings of staff

While running almost 50,000 secret credit ratings of staff,[26] overtime is often not paid.[27] With the introduction of the legal minimum wage in Germany, KiK pays its staff minimum wage or higher.

type	GmbH
foundation	April 1994
founder	Stefan Heinig, Tengelmann Group
location city	275 Boën St., Bönen, Germany
area served	Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, Poland, Portugal, Netherlands, Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, Spain
key people	Patrick Zahn, CEO
industry	Retail
products	Clothing and Non-Food products
revenue	€ 1.95 (2016) billion
num employees	25,697
homepage	www.kik.de

Overview

Online shop

Marketing

Sustainability

Criticism

Building collapse at Savar

Swastika-styled clothing racks

Wages for factory workers

Secret credit ratings of staff

See also

External links

References