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The BÄR career path

Once upon a time, there were aching feet“Never again aching feet”—that was the decision made by the company’s founder, Christian Bär, who was always traveling extensively for trade fairs and exhibitions. In the late 1970s, after searching for a pair of comfortable shoes and following a long, bitterly cold night in Berlin, he returned to his hotel tired and exhausted. The following summer, while on vacation at the Baltic Sea, he happened to meet a senior employee of a large northern German rubber factory. Their conversation about the soles produced there turned to comfortable shoes. He gave Christian Bär a tip and the contact details of a manufacturer.

The last is the soul of the shoe.

Derived from the anatomical shape of the foot and the feeling of healthy barefoot walking, this model was created in collaboration with last maker Gerhard Motsch from Pirmasens. In addition to his seemingly inexhaustible Palatinate humor, he had a great passion for shoe lasts, combined with exceptional craftsmanship and creativity. The result was a model that was completely unlike the shoe designs of the time. “But these shoes were comfortable! They gave my toes plenty of room—the big toe could move freely and wasn’t constricted. Even when I was out and about for a long time, I completely forgot about my feet,” senior company owner Christian Bär still recalls today.

Shoes shaped like feet?

Who needs that anyway? This skepticism from many shoe retailers came as a sobering realization. “From now on, we’ll sell our shoes ourselves!” Christian and Hilke Bär decided. The beginning was difficult. Experienced in direct sales, Christian and Hilke began selling their shoes at consumer trade fairs.

“You have to try on both shoes at the same time, as a pair; only then can you understand and assess the shoe. That’s how we were able to give people a completely new walking experience,” says Hilke Bär.

60 trade fairs a year required perseverance and organization, giving up weekends and regularly working 14-hour days. After the trade fairs, procurement had to be organized, and then the goods had to be delivered.

The shoemaker from the Swabian Alb

As our success grew, so did our delivery difficulties. We had never actually intended to manufacture products ourselves. That was a nightmare for a businessman who spent most of his time traveling. But we realized that we could only keep everything under control if we decided to invest in our own production facility dedicated exclusively to making BÄR shoes. In 1982, BÄR GmbH was founded, and after production began, the designation “Manufactory for Comfortable Shoes” was added. BÄR GmbH invested in production lasts, cutting tools, and raw materials. The long-established Schätzle family business from the Swabian Jura provided the shoe-making machinery and the craftsmanship of its shoemakers, and from then on produced only genuine BÄR moccasins. We want every BÄR shoe to be a testament to our craftsmanship and outstanding quality, fulfilling its function as a comfortable shoe down to the smallest detail. “I guarantee it,” Ansbert Schätzle said at the beginning of our partnership, which lasted 15 years.

Shoes by mail

“When we realized one day that our customer database already contained several thousand addresses, we decided to send out a small four-page brochure,” Christian Bär recalls. Compiled on a Sunday afternoon, then printed and sent to all customers, the first brochure generated such a strong response in 1985 that almost one-fifth of all the customers contacted placed an order. “Of course, we no longer achieve those dream figures today,” Hilke Bär remarks wistfully. In 1989, the first proper catalog, now 72 pages long, was sent to the growing number of customers and prospective customers. To save costs, Christian and Hilke Bär appeared as models in the catalog, in photos taken on the fringes of business and trade-fair trips at beautiful locations around the world, from Ireland to Miami, and from Italy to Japan.

Customers want to try it in person ... also in Japan

In 1992, the first BÄR store opened in the far north, in Lüneburg. Meeting—and, whenever possible, exceeding—our customers’ wishes has been our daily goal from the very beginning and remains so today. Providing personal advice and assistance is still our highest priority. Over the course of 12 years, 20 BÄR stores opened from Lüneburg to Munich, offering selection and personal advice in addition to the catalog and website. BÄR entered the Japanese market in 1995 and established its own branch in Tokyo in October 2006. We developed a golden shoe for Princess Erina of Saxony, which became our most successful model internationally. We gave former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl “staying power” with our “Elch” model when he visited us at our store on Kurfürstendamm.

Ein Unternehmen Ist Eine Familie Und Eine Familie Ist Ein Unternehmen

A company is a family, and a family is a company.

“Success is also challenging because you have to prove it anew every day. Anyone who rests on their laurels has lost,” says Hilke Bär.“

The sometimes difficult, occasionally explosive coexistence in a working marriage developed over the years into a meaningful collaboration, also involving their two sons, Christof and Sebastian, who have now been working in the family business for 25 and 20 years respectively. Their cooperation has been hard-won, and their willingness to engage in dialogue has long been firmly established. Since 2002, both sons have been appointed managing directors in line with their interests and skills: Christof for Production and Purchasing, and Sebastian for Marketing and Sales.” The heart of the company, with its 80 employees, beats in Bietigheim. We are very grateful to our employees and customers for never doubting us and for continuing to agree with us to this day that good, foot-friendly shoes are both meaningful and feasible.

From the present into the future

To this day, Christian and Hilke Bär still spend days testing the prototypes, sometimes in bad weather and extreme conditions in the mountains or in hot sand, to identify any deviations in fit or weak points. Hilke Bär is still partly responsible for the design, while Christian Bär often frustrates the employees responsible for quality control by reaching into any shoebox and noticing “minor details” that still need improvement.

Press contact for BÄR GmbH

Media representatives can reach the BÄR
press office at the following email address:

presse@baer-schuhe.de

BÄR Press Area

The BÄR career path

The last is the soul of the shoe.

Shoes shaped like feet?

The shoemaker from the Swabian Alb

Shoes by mail

Customers want to try it in person ... also in Japan

A company is a family, and a family is a company.

From the present into the future

Press contact for BÄR GmbH

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BÄR Press Area

The BÄR career path

The last is the soul of the shoe.

Shoes shaped like feet?

The shoemaker from the Swabian Alb

Shoes by mail

Customers want to try it in person ... also in Japan

A company is a family, and a family is a company.

From the present into the future

Press contact for BÄR GmbH

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