Business Vision

Schocken had a genius for targeting untapped market segments. An astute student of consumer behavior and the retail industry, he observed that the German blue- and white-collar worker classes were under-served by traditional stores that catered mostly to well-heeled customers. Schocken sensed that these market segments could be turned into a huge and loyal customer base. He set out to design, produce, and price products especially for these customer profiles.

The strategy paid off brilliantly, blossoming in 1932 into a network of 20 department stores, Germany’s fourth largest retail chain.

Schocken was well known for his meticulous emphasis on product quality. He designed centralized supply chains and systems for efficient inventory control, established labs for quality assurance, and hired the country’s most celebrated artists to design every aesthetic aspect of his business. Another hallmark of the Schocken chain was employee welfare.

Schocken built a countryside resort, where employees spent their annual vacations at the company’s expense.