Retail giant Andreas Murkudis reflecting on 20 successful years

He is an art lover, quality and design aficionado, storyteller and philanthropist - and definitely one of the most interesting players in the German retail landscape: Andreas Murkudis celebrates his 20th anniversary this year.

Approachable and a bit mysterious, that is perhaps how one can describe him as a person; and actually, these attributes also apply to the core of his product range. The former director of the “Museum of Things” in Berlin opened his first store in Berlin Mitte in 2002, and now runs three stores in the capital: his 600-square-metre flagship store at Potsdamer Straße 81, a 200-square-metre furniture space directly opposite at number 98, and a 225-square-metre flexibly used space at number 77. On the occasion of his 20th anniversary, he takes stock of his accomplishments with FashionUnited.

You are celebrating your 20th anniversary this year. How are you doing in these times?

We are doing extremely well. We are putting on many events to mark our anniversary, which we didn't want to celebrate on a specific day. Instead, we will host 20 exhibitions during our anniversary year to mark these 20 years. These exhibitions attract many people. By the way, international tourists are now returning to Berlin, this was clearly noticeable during the summer holidays.

How has your international reach expanded since Covid?

Before Covid, 40 percent of our customers came from abroad, that is America, Japan, Korea and of course Europe. The Americans are back now, the Asians are still reluctant for the time being. But all in all, it is clear that the store has become more and more internationally known over time and that more and more international visitors are coming.

What kind of exhibitions do you organise?

For us, it's about presenting brands that we can only show in a rudimentary way in the store comprehensively and in depth. In our experience, our customers better understand the significance a brand has for us when we show it in the context of a large presentation. But we don't only show fashion, also furniture collections or art and photo exhibitions.

Which collections are suitable for such exhibitions?

A collection like Quira, for example, which we have only had since the summer and which was incredibly successful right from the start, selling 90 percent before the sale. We are planning a larger installation with this collection in autumn, which we are currently working on. We will also realise a very special project with Rick Owens at the end of October. The focus will be on a spectacular jacket made of mint-coloured goatskin from his show collection. As this jacket is not only very extravagant but also very expensive, we have developed the idea with Rick Owens to use the mint-coloured goatskin of this jacket to create an affordable and also everyday wearable version, a bomber jacket. There will also be a kind of pouf covered with the same mint-coloured goatskin. Fashion together with furniture... I think it's going to be an interesting thing that I'm really looking forward to.

It seems that fashion and furniture are generally moving closer together at Andreas Murkudis. In the past, you not only presented your furniture across the street in a space styled like an old Berlin flat but also a few steps away from your main store in a separate space at 77 Potsdamer Strasse. Recently, however, you have integrated the furniture into the main space.

That's right. The exhibition space styled like an old flat opposite remains. But the assortment at number 77 has moved to our so-called “Kleine Halle,” the 175-square-metre adjoining room in our main store, which used to be reserved for cosmetics, accessories and ceramics and has now also been converted into a kind of giant flat. We will use the freed-up space at number 77 flexibly for our presentations and exhibitions in the future.

What has been the impact of this measure?

Since most people go to our main store first and prefer to stay there, the integration of furniture has brought the whole area of living a big step forward. We have since sold significantly more furniture than in the past. This has led to the current year being one of our best. Unless something else dramatic happens, our anniversary year will even eclipse 2018 and 2019. At the moment, everything is just right: the brand mix, the commercial success, our employees - so far, our anniversary year is a perfect year.

You had to make space for the furniture when you moved it into your main store. How has your selection changed as a result?

We got rid of a few brands that weren't really important for us. However, we are also adding new ones. Retterspitz, for example. At first glance, this product doesn't really fit in with us or with the brands we carry, such as Jil Sander - and that's exactly what I find exciting! Retterspitz is a traditional brand that originally comes from the pharmacy sector. Behind it is a Nuremberg family business. The products are comparatively cheap; a hand cream, for example, costs less than eight euros. I think it's nice to be able to offer things for everyday use that everyone can afford. Prof. Steinkraus' cosmetics are also new to us. Most of the products cost around 50 euros. So you don't need creams for 250 euros to take good care of your skin at a high level.

You have also parted with some fashion brands, Loewe for example. Why?

That's a collection I was enthusiastic about at the beginning, but in the end it was too bag-driven and also a touch too fashionable. The most important thing for me is the clothes. If the focus of a collection is too much on bags and accessories, it's not that interesting for me.

What else is important for a collection to be interesting for you?

Well, I look at the product in its entirety. How is it produced, what does it look like on the inside, what is the quality, what is the design - all that has to convince me. Things should be innovative but not too fashionable; or as perfect and timeless as, say The Row because the things we sell are often relatively high-priced, they should be wearable for many years. In the end, however, it is my gut feeling that is the deciding factor.

Do you have specific customers in mind when you buy?

No. I buy what I like, hoping of course that it will work. But first I have to like the item, that's important. You know, I'm not very strategic. If I don't like a piece, I'm just not interested in it. No matter how commercially successful it might be.

Do you do all the buying on your own?

Yes.

Do you enjoy buying menswear more than womenswear? Not really. Women's fashion is still a bit more exciting than men's fashion; in womenswear there is a lot more possible, also in terms of colours.

Colour at Andreas Murkudis - that is also a novelty…

Yes, after this dreary Covid period, I have noticed that I buy much more colour than before: pink, bright green, neon yellow, orange... I just bought cashmere in these bright colours. Even though I don't wear it myself, it's fun to come to the store and see all these colours. And people like it and buy it too. Some people also initially dive into our range via the colours - and end up buying dark blue after all. But it's not about that, it's about having fun. I love all these products that we offer. By the way, I also love unwrapping the parcels when new merchandise arrives. It's like unwrapping Christmas presents...

When one buys as intuitively as you do, the mood at the time of ordering plays a particularly big role. When you unpack the goods, do you sometimes wonder what you have ordered?

Of course I do! And of course you sometimes make mistakes. I can think of a coat that I thought of when I was buying: This is the most beautiful coat of the season! And then the sale comes along - and the coat is still there, in full quantities. Those are the surprises in life. Of course, I also have to pay my bills at the end of the day. But if I were only busy with planning and sales and margins, that would be too lifeless for me.

The vast majority of retailers probably considers the intensive examination of sales and margins to be essential…

That may be, but it's a completely different approach. I sometimes read these articles in trade journals where everyone says what sells well. The other day, a retailer was quoted as saying: ‘I only buy brands that have an extremely high margin, and if they don't perform in the first season, I throw them out.’ But you never read anyone saying: ‘We have brand XY in our portfolio because we love it, and now we have to invest a few years until this brand makes a profit.’ Instead, it's all about a high margin and a super sale, right away. Where is the passion for fashion and beauty in that? If you have such an approach, you can also run a grocery store.

What role does the current price development play for you?

Actually, I'm not overly interested in this topic. In fashion, I have different pieces every season, so I can't really compare them either. Maybe a cashmere pullover from Neri cost 60 euros less last season - but I also have a different pullover this season. Furniture is a different story. Some furniture brands have already increased their prices for the second time this year due to the price increases of raw materials. If a certain wooden table by E15 weighs 120 kilograms, then the increased price of wood is of course noticeably reflected in the price. But is a Roberto Collina pullover really more expensive now than it was half a year ago - or am I not rather dealing with a different pullover now? Of course I am aware that prices have basically gone up, but that's just the way it is. There are situations in which there are price increases. Then you just have to buy the things that are not affected so much by these price increases, for example because they are made in Europe.

Will it play a greater role for you in the future, also in terms of sustainability, whether a product is manufactured in Europe?

That is certainly an important criterion. However, the goods I sell have always been sustainable. With certain companies that produce very cheap fashion and claim to be sustainable, I always ask myself what kind of sustainability they actually mean. How can a dress made of organic cotton, which is also advertised in huge ad campaigns with stars, cost 24.90 euros? And where is all the organic cotton supposed to come from?

What do you understand by sustainability?

For example, I have been stocking the Johnston cashmere collection from Scotland for a very long time. The raw material comes from Nepal, but the entire product is finished in Elgin in Scotland. Or Caruso, a men's collection that I have just ordered. The cloth is woven in Biella and the rest of the production takes place within a radius of 50 kilometres. Or think of Nymphenburg porcelain, which is made entirely in Munich. Or Roberto Collina, who produces his collection entirely in Bologna without any ingredients from Asia. For me, it is extremely important that something is produced where the idea originates and where the company is based. But first and foremost, of course, is the consideration of whether you really need a piece and how long you can wear it. The other day, a customer came in with a 15-year-old Felisi wallet and wanted to have the small leather part on the zip that had fallen off replaced. That kind of thing gives me a lot of pleasure, because it shows me that people enjoy our products for a long time. It doesn't get more sustainable than that; even if I don't talk about it all the time and not everything has a sustainability stamp on it.

Have the stops on your order round changed due to the Covid situation and a stronger focus on products made in Europe?

Yes, definitely, I travel much less than before. Not only because one has become accustomed to Zoom and gets along well with it for certain brands. I also don't necessarily go to trade fairs any more, but look specifically at products or collections that have caught my eye or have been recommended to me. What I do find interesting, however, are events such as a privately organised fair with around 50 small manufacturers from different sectors in Naples, which I attended for the first time last October. Among other things, I met some excellent shirt makers there, but I also discovered a ceramics factory that produces handmade tiles in such wonderful colours that they make your eyes glaze over.

Did you meet any other German retailers at this fair?

Not a single one. There were Italians, some French and Belgians. This year is the third time the fair is taking place. There are so many great products and companies trying to get into the market with a good price and a small margin...not only in fashion, but also in shoes, furniture, ceramics or porcelain. But there are unfortunately too few retailers who are inspired by this. One can only wonder how so many stores buy the same thing. It's like schoolchildren copying their classwork from each other. They all go for the brands that everyone has and that are considered low-risk. I think that's a bit sad, because the variety and the moments of surprise are lost that way. And if all the great companies and manufacturers that I saw in Naples, for example, were no longer there one day, that would be an incredible pity.

How do you deal with the fact that brands that you initially offered largely exclusively are suddenly available in many other stores within one or two seasons? I'm thinking of Extreme Cashmere, for example, which has established itself on a broad scale in the market in a very short time.

Extreme Cashmere is a beautiful, uncomplicated and sustainable product. Do I have to carry this product exclusively? Actually, I don't care if it's available in other stores, because I believe that every store has its specific clientele. You just have to continuously work on being so good that people don't go somewhere else but come to us. Apart from that: How are such companies supposed to survive if everyone who writes an order for 5,000 euros wants to have the product exclusively?

Then the fact that Iris von Arnim is represented in the women's wear section at KaDeWe is also not the reason why you carry the product in the men’s range but not in womenswear?

No. We already carry other brands in this segment for women that work very well. Oyuna, for example, or Van Kukil or Extreme Cashmere. I have the problem that - even if our rooms seem huge at first glance - I simply don't have enough space to display even more collections appropriately. When we moved in here at Potsdamer Strasse 81, we had 20 clothes racks, now there are 70 plus various tables and presentation elements...that's an insane amount. Any more would be too much for the customers. As much as I would like to carry Iris von Arnim or Aida Barni for women: I have to focus.

You already said at the beginning that you are currently very satisfied with your brand mix, but also with your employees. Has your team changed as a result of the Covid situation?

During the Covid phase, there were actually a few people who were rather pessimistic about the future and changed their field. So we looked around and brought in a few more good people who are very motivated and have a great desire to work for us. In the end, however, we reduced our team from 30 to 25 employees.

Recruiting is an increasingly difficult topic. What do you offer your employees to interest and motivate them?

Our employees are well paid. They are a great team that enjoys spending the day together and also meets privately. They have a lot of freedom and creative opportunities with us, and they use them in a way that I think is optimal. I myself am not a boss who is always absent or sitting in a back room somewhere, I am very present in the store, work with them and am always approachable. In the evenings after closing time, we often all sit together on the terrace and have a glass of wine, and from time to time we also have small parties. My wish is that we all have a good time together. If that succeeds, there is no reason to change jobs. And there are not that many possibilities in our genre. At most, monobrand stores would be an option, and there you have to deal with a single collection and a certain sales pressure, and every half hour a customer comes in. With us, on the other hand, you can enjoy different products every day and learn something new, and all kinds of customers come in who get excited about things they didn't know before. Since no one gets a commission and has to sell someone something that doesn't really suit him or her, our customers can be sure that they are taken seriously and not regarded as a medium for transferring money. That would also be fatal.

You are not only very present in your stores but also on Instagram for a good three quarters of a year. Was the decision to make a personal appearance on social networks difficult for you?

To be honest, yes. I'm a rather reserved person and actually prefer to be in the background. But I realised that people would like to know where I am and what I do, and that we also have to do a lot more to explain our brands. So I made the - admittedly not entirely easy - decision to get personally involved in social media. Since then, my assistant, who takes the photos, has always accompanied me on my travels; we also have a new, young colleague who puts pictures and text into the right format.

What impact does your social media presence have on your business?

On the one hand, of course, the brands we visit and stock are happy about it. But we also feel that people - not only from Berlin, but from everywhere - respond to it: They call and want to have something sent; or they come by. As a result, significantly more people come to us. These are effects that we have felt very quickly. I myself have an interest, of course, that in this way especially the rather unknown brands that we carry also catch the attention of other retailers, so that they become better known and other retailers also buy them.

Have you ever regretted - especially in the last two and a half years - not having an online shop? Or are you also working on it in the meantime?

No and no. On the contrary. During the pandemic, it was anything but easy to keep the business afloat without an online shop - we often reached our limits. I am all the more proud that we managed it. We have resorted to alternative models. For example, we published a catalogue of the product range at that time and sent it by post to our regular customers. There will be no online shop - it doesn't fit into my concept. The whole point is for people to come to my stores and be enchanted by the objects, the space and the team. Since we have just touched on the subject of sustainability - by not having an online shop, we are also making a contribution to this.

Do you currently see yourself at your peak?

No, because that would mean that things are going downhill from now on. Instead, I am actually enjoying my business more and more, because it is becoming more and more successful, and it is also perceived differently than it was in its beginnings. Of course, all this is very motivating. Besides, I have far too many ideas to sit back and do nothing. I could easily stock five more stores of our size, because in my notebook I have written down almost four hundred brands that I would like to buy.

Several hundred?

Of course! There are endless great things, and there is not only fashion, but also lingerie, china, cutlery, accessories...

Then let's think ten years ahead: 30 years of Andreas Murkudis - what would your company look like?

I could well imagine adding more space here on Potsdamer Strasse if something attractive comes up. I have a lease here until 2036, and I'm very happy about that, because I love coming here every morning, to these spaces. A space like this is not so easy to find in the inner city area. It is my wish to continue working on our concept in the future and to support all the great brands we favour. Because if there were only Ikea and Uniqlo, our lives would be missing something.

Is there a dream that is still unfulfilled?

There really is. One of my dreams would be to open a shop in Asia, in Tokyo or Seoul, because there are many like-minded people there.

There are no locations in Germany that would interest you?

Berlin is the only city in Germany where I can be this successful with our concept. I am convinced of that. Only from Berlin was I able to develop such an international reach. Only here could I establish myself so well with our extremely broad brand spectrum and our idea of quality. I built up our business 20 years ago with 30,000 euros in start-up capital. That would not have been possible in any other city in Europe.

This article was originally published on FashionUnited.de. Edited and translated by Simone Preuss.