Franzen Family
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Franzen Königsallee – The brand is a symbol for a family which has stood for outstanding quality, for style and has fought for good sales figures on the Königsallee for 100 years now. And though the boundaries between company and family blend into one another, the family has top priority: it is both the backbone and retreat. And: It is a guarantor for the success which also gives flight to ambition. The brothers are at the peak and the children ring in the fourth generation of entrepreneurs.
The Franzen family – a firmly established constant in the City of Düsseldorf, a clan in the best Rhineland sense.
Hermann Franzen
Born in 1940, Hermann Franzen traveled to New York when he was only 25. For the last 45 years, the father of two sons and one daughter has determined the company’s areas of focus. He was President of the Chamber of Trade and Commerce of Düsseldorf, President of the Retail Industry Association and of the German Retailers’ Association.
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He is the company senior and has the last word. Hermann Franzen leaves no doubt as to this. For the last 45 years, the second of the five Franzen siblings has been in the shop six days a week. He is the »face« of the oldest existing family company on the Kö and the driving force of the business. The 71 year old is a man of vision and of strategies. Courageously and with commercial foresight, the businessman expanded, modernized, transformed and extended his property. He has been successful in retaining a balance between progress and continuity, between new values and old. The utmost in quality – this is his ultimate benchmark. Franzen is a solitary figure and the boss – an old-school entrepreneur. Offering his customers the best service and leading an example for his employees – these are the most important responsibilities for the man with the silver-gray hair and the reserved and well maintained style. Family and company – these are the pillars which support Hermann Franzen. The porcelain enthusiast and aficionado of the art of fine French glass cannot imagine his life without these.
Claus Franzen
Born in 1956, joined the company in 1984. He is married and has four children between the ages of 16 and 23. He works voluntarily as the Chairman of the Königsallee Interest Group and as a judge at the Regional Labor Court and Düsseldorf Regional Court.
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Claus Franzen studied Business Administration and lived and worked in Switzerland and the USA for a while, before returning to the Kö when his father Hermann took ill. This was where he was born and reared and where he then became owner and head of the company together with his 16-years-older brother. The familiar cooperation between the two brothers is most certainly one of the Franzen brand’s recipes for success. For Claus Franzen, the economic expert, people are always the focal point of entrepreneurial actions. Several years ago, he moved out of the family’s own property and today lives in the countryside together with his family. However, he still has an overview of »his« Kö every day, as his favorite place is the Bel Etage. From the wall-high windows on the first floor of the shop, he enjoys the incomparable atmosphere of the spectacular boulevard. The businessman enjoys spending his free time pursuing sports. As well as beach volleyball, his big passion for the last 30 years has been riding motorcycles.
Marietta Franzen
Born in 1952 in Duisburg, studied Economics, spent considerable time abroad during her school and student years, speaks three languages and has a soft spot for all things Francophile. She is mother to one son and has been part of the company since her marriage to Hermann Franzen.
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She is the trend scout with the right nose when it comes to popular brands. She travels to Paris and Milan – always on the look-out for new products. She is familiar with all the big names in the world of beautiful things. »We used to come to the Kö when I was a child. My mother collected porcelain and, of course, was a customer at Franzen.« When she met her future husband, she quickly became a part of the company. She experienced the Golden Years in the 80s and 90s, when exquisite porcelain, glasses and silverware were at the top of people’s wish lists. Marietta Franzen – confident in taste and style – played a significant role in expanding the product range. The cookery department is her »baby« and she calls the shots when it comes to jewelry. The porcelain house has been transformed into a modern concept store. »I love the company, despite the fact that the work is extremely challenging« says the lover of fine art, who occasionally suffers from wanderlust. When this happens, she sets off for China or Tibet, Arabia or Africa, and returns full of drive and energy.
Stephanie Kluth-Franzen
Born in 1970, daughter of Hermann Franzen, married, mother of two sons, began her career straight after her school-leaving exams.
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Nobody expected her to follow in her father’s and uncle’s footsteps as a representative of the fourth generation. However, Stephanie Kluth-Franzen finds it wonderful that she can continue the existing path and make her own marks on the business. She began as a trainee and nothing was handed to her on a plate. »On the contrary, my father asked the employees not to treat me with kid gloves.« Even today, the 41 year old does not consider herself above lending a hand in the warehouse. Following her studies and professional stations in New York und Los Angeles, she cornered a niche and focused on modern design. Her area of expertise lies in clear forms and lines. Today, she is responsible for the gifts, stationery and writing utensils departments. She enjoys life as a retailer. »We always have to come up with new ideas, offer first-class service and grab our customers in an emotional sense.« Born into a company in which discipline and hard work are a way of life, she has settled into the apartment above the shop. The proximity makes it easier to combine work and family.
Peter Franzen
Born in 1984, son of Hermann und Marietta Franzen, business school graduate, has been Management Assistant since 2010.
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Even back when he was a schoolboy he used to be in the shop every Saturday – voluntarily, he emphasizes. The company is part of his life. He never had any ambitions to become a crane driver or a pilot. He always wanted to become a businessman, just like his father and grandfather. Peter Franzen studied and gathered experience in Beverly Hills and Paris, at Meissen, with a corporate consultant and a bank. He sees his area of expertise in trade management with a focus on new media. He is aware of the responsibility which lies with him as a part of the younger generation. However, it is his life’s dream to shape the business of the house founded by his great-grandparents, which today has a sales area of 1,500 square meters. Furthermore, like all Franzens, he is a family man who is young and dynamic and yet is rooted in tradition. As a child, he ate his porridge from a floral patterned Meissen plate. Today, the two-meter man is mad about a rhino from the Meissen manufactory and the Ming dragons which adorn the porcelain. When his grandmother Anneliese passed away at the age of 96, it was the natural move for her grandson to take over her apartment above the rooftops of the Kö.
