A strong rural presence

The first stores of the German Kiebitzmarkt speciality chain belonging to the company NBB Fachmärkte für Tier und Garten opened their doors twenty years ago. The stores, located mostly in rural regions of Germany, offer their customers a multifaceted range of pet food and accessories, products for the house and garden and agricultural products. They also give advice on pest control. Apart from the Kiebitzmarkt concept, five other franchise systems operate under the umbrella of NBB AG, which has its head office in Rodenberg. As well as bauSpezi (DIY and home improvement stores), and holzSpezi (timber merchants), these include AngelSpezi (specialist tackle shops), and bauProfi (DIY and home improvement stores), in Austria. NBB also cooperates with the company Egesa-Zookauf in garden centres and plant nurseries, which are run under the name NBB egesa. NBB thus has over 700 outlets in all and generated sales of € 700 mio in 2013.
Kiebitzmarkt stores on track for success
The company's successful sales record is reflected in the development of the Kiebitzmarkt stores, the number of which has grown from 17 shops in 1994 to 90 outlets at present. This figure is set to increase to 96 stores and shops by the end of the year. The stores have also seen a steady increase in sales from € 7 mio in 1994 to around € 41 mio in 2014. Franchise partners have experienced steady growth in retail area in the last 20 years too, with the average weighted retail area of individual stores expanding from 280 m² originally in 1994 to 480 m². Alongside the increases in retail area and sales, NBB's commitment above all to private label has increased, and more than 270 new items have been added to the range of private label products to date. Private label products for pets that were previously presented under the Pfiff name have now been uniformly rebranded under the Kiebitzmarkt name. "We believe that our brand name Kiebitzmarkt, which is clearly displayed in our public image, our advertising and so forth and is synonymous with specialist competence in rural regions, should be the name of our own brand in the future too," says Cord Kirchmann, managing director of NBB Fachmärkte für Tier und Garten. The company is also planning to develop new private labels for 2014.