ULM (dpa-AFX) – Erwin Müller, the 93-year-old founder and managing director of the Müller drugstore chain, is giving up power after many decades – at least a little. As of April 1st, the company is expanding the existing management team “in order to place operational responsibility on a broader basis and further strengthen the long-term future viability of the company,” as the Ulm-based company announced.
Müller remains the central authority
The new management therefore included seven members. The committee reports to Müller, who initiated the realignment and who “continues to be the central authority”. The company should “act even more agile, faster and more professionally”. Müller is one of the few entrepreneurs in Germany who still has responsibility for a company of this size at his age. When asked on Friday, the company did not want to comment further beyond the announcement. Several media outlets had previously reported.
Like other companies, the retail group no longer just sells classic drugstore goods, but also toys, stationery, household items and things from the multimedia sector. Around 35,500 people work at Müller. With Rossmann, dm and – especially in northern Germany – Budni, the company is one of the four big players in the industry Schlecker went bankrupt in 2012.
From salon to chain
According to the company, the trained hairdresser set up his first salon in 1953 in his parents’ apartment in Unterfahlheim near Ulm in Bavaria, which he later moved to Neu-Ulm. In 1966 he came up with the idea of also offering cosmetics and drugstore items in the salon. In 1969, Müller reportedly brought the idea of drugstores with everyday goods and large self-service department stores back from a tour of Canada and the USA. In 1973 he finally opened his first pure drugstore in Ulm./rwi/DP/zb
