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Trade News HANS Carpels Aged 51, father of three children, Hans Carpels obtained a Masters Degree in Law in 1982 and a Masters Degree in Marketing in 1985, when he also became the CEO of Tera C.V. He co-founded Euronics International in 1990. Since 2000, he has been Vice-President of Euronics International and in 2005 he also became Managing Director of Euronics Belgium (E.B.). He integrated the Photo- Group into E.B. in 2005 and the IT-Group in 2009. Carpels was elected President of Euronics International in June 2010. Carpels on Euronics’ exclusive products We managed to convince several suppliers to accept our exclusive programme for products, throughout Europe. These are now in the launching period and the sales will come to full throttle after the summer period. The products are always conceived as added value products with at least one added feature compared to the normal line of products. A novelty is that we distribute those items through a selective distribution model, which guarantees the industry that the retailers who sell these products have abided by the criteria necessary to answer consumer demands. Pan-European Brand Evolution From modest beginnings Euronics has grown into one of Europe’s main retailer buying marketing groups in only 20 years Hans Carpels President, Euronics by Gary Smith Since the founding of Euronics more than twenty years ago, evolution in the marketplace has been constant and profound. How has Euronics adapted to these changes, and what are the company’s current aspirations? IFA International put the question to Hans Carpels, elected last year as President of the retail and distribution group. When we started back in 1990, we were working across five countries: Germany, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands and Belgium. Now, Euronics is a major player in Europe, with a sales turnover of 15,6 Billion Euros and outlets in 29 countries, stretching from Portugal to Finland and from Ireland to Russia & the Ukraine. When I was elected as the new president of Euronics, my predecessor had just announced his vision of reaching 20 Billion Euros turnover in 2015. Quite an inheritance isn't it? But I feel very confident that we can meet the challenge. We will grow organically, as well as through new acquisitions, and by introducing new product groups into various countries. Euronics has a very close relationship to IFA. How is this evolving and why is it so important? In Germany, but also around Europe, Euronics has always been a very keen supporter of IFA, and even more when it became a yearly event that also involves Domestic Appliances. For each retailer who believes in his or her future, IFA is a must. Not only do you have an exquisite platform to visit all your partners and make deals, but the event is both a trendsetter for the most important period in the year, and a guideline for the coming one and a half years. You are in an exceptional position to be able to judge the evolution of the Technical Consumer Goods market today. What were the most striking factors affecting the market in the first half of 2011? Rarely have we seen a reverse of existing trends where there is no clear reason or event that "For each retailer who believes in his or her future, IFA is a must." www.ifa-international.org IFA International • Friday 2 nd September 2011 41
