The shoe supplier Birkenstock found what it was looking for in a new production location for its plastic and outdoor sandals. On Thursday, the company announced that it would like to build its EVA / PU competence center on the grounds of the Berlin-Szczecin industrial park in the West Pomeranian city of Pasewalk. The decision was preceded by an “extensive, multi-stage selection process” in which around 60 possible locations were examined, the company explained. The decisive factor in favor of Pasewalk was therefore the infrastructure of the industrial park, the particularly convenient location due to its proximity to the A20 motorway and rail transport, and the existing workforce.
Birkenstock plans to invest “at least 50 million euros” in the new plant as early as the first expansion phase. An expansion is already planned. According to the shoe supplier, this is “not only the largest investment project in the history of the traditional German company”, but also “one of the largest industrial settlements in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania since reunification”. In the medium term, 1,000 new jobs are to be created in the new “flagship plant”. “That would make Birkenstock one of the largest private employers in the metropolitan region between Berlin and Szczecin straight away,” emphasized the company.
Another alternative location in the running: Birkenstock is pushing for approval as soon as possible
However, the project is not yet one hundred percent secure: Although the city representatives of Pasewalk had approved the purchase of a 120,000 square meter plot of land for the planned factory on Thursday “with a large majority”, the completion of the transaction was “still subject to certain conditions like that The necessary building and immission control permits are available, ”explained Birkenstock. In view of the “tight time frame resulting from the strong growth”, the company is “continuing discussions with another potential location for the time being”, it says in a press release. According to the shoe manufacturer’s ideas, construction of the factory should start as early as the second quarter of 2022. Production is to “start in the first quarter of 2023” there.
Regardless of the development in Pasewalk, Birkenstock wants to further expand its main German production site in Görlitz, Saxony. According to the company, this will in future be entirely geared towards “the manufacture of core products, ie footbeds and cork-latex sandals” and “upgraded” through investments of at least 50 million euros. The corresponding production capacities in Görlitz would be “increased by 50 percent”, explained the company.