Plans and restructuring of the Ahlers brands

R.Brand Group GmbH, a new subsidiary of Röther Group, takes over the main assets of Ahlers AG. The change of name of RG Wholesale Holding GmbH was notarized at the end of July, Röther Group, which owns the Modepark Röther retail chain, announced. Under the umbrella of the holding company, the previous Ahlers brands are to be set as separate GmbHs – New P.C. GmbH, New Pioneer GmbH, New Baldessarini GmbH and the New Pionier Berufsbekleidung GmbH.

Another new feature is that there will be brand directors responsible for the individual brands: At Pierre Cardin, this position will be held by Gerri Pasturi, while at Pionier Workwear, Maik Friedrichs will be in charge. This also applies to Pioneer Managing Director Dirk Bornemann, who will take the helm of the newly formed New Pioneer GmbH. At Baldessarini, the current Head of Sales, Grischa Gladen, will take over responsibility, while Florian Wortmann, current Baldessarini Managing Director, will take on new professional challenges.

Michael Röther, the company’s managing partner, and Fabian Messer, managing director of the Röther Group, are part of the top management of the new holding company. Anna-Lena Schulte-Angels, as Chief Financial Officer of RG Wholesale Holding GmbH, will be responsible for the areas of finance, human resources, IT and the commercial support of the foreign subsidiaries. Nevertheless, not all employees could be taken over. “The reduction in personnel that has been made is primarily due to the fact that the e-commerce and domestic retail divisions have not been taken over,” Messner said. “In addition, the organization as a whole is being streamlined and coordination processes simplified, so that jobs have also been eliminated in other central functions. All processes related to the product are mapped in the Marken GmbHs.”

Furthermore, Röther Group negotiated a new, long-term license agreement with Pierre Cardin. “More modern and younger collection components are to be added to the strategy, so that Pierre Cardin will experience a slight rejuvenation without losing its previous target group,” says Michael Röther.
The positioning of the Pioneer jeans brand and Baldessarini will also be continued as planned, and Baldessarini’s internationalization will be driven forward. “We will not carry Baldessarini at Modepark Röther. The brand does not fit the positioning in the mid-price segment in our stores,” Röther added. “As a growth brand in the premium segment, we nevertheless want to keep and expand Baldessarini in the R.Brand Group portfolio.”