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Founded 1996 in Denmark under the company name at that time CM Import I/S
The company was established with a firm background in and deep passion for BMW, along with a hope to make a hobby into a successful career.
In the beginning the company was run during the free time of the founders in a humble 100 square meter premises. At this time the business consisted only of the sale of used parts and there were no employees other than the owners Christian Jacobsen (then 25) who was employed elsewhere as an auto mechanic and Martin Thorup Andresen (then 23) who was then studying business in Sønderborg. The company was formed and called CM Import.
The business concept from the start was “Denmark’s lowest priced BMW parts”. This concept was quickly a success with customers especially due to uncompromising high level of service and quality.
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1998
Development along with the work load grew so greatly that Christian Jacobsen left his employer to work full time with the company. Shortly after, Martin Thorup Andresen completed his education and also began working full time with the company. The decision to invest in a website was made and it was after this that the business progressed seriously. Only 6 months after Christian and Martin began working full time a mechanic was hired. Now the sale of parts was complemented with a workshop where customers could have their parts installed by a workshop that from the beginning worked exclusively with the repairs of BMW vehicles.
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1998/99
CM import at this time employed 2 mechanics besides the owners themselves. Additionally the premises were then expanded so that there were now 300 square meters for use, divided up between warehouse, workshop and office.
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2000
CM Import now employed 8 plus the owners. The premises grew to 500 square meters inside and an approx. 1600 square meter large outside storage area for where there were always around 100 traffic damaged BMW’s for recycling parts. The approx 500 square meters inside space was now divided into workshop, recycling dept, packing dept, warehouse and office. Our assortment was now expanded to new/used accessories, new/used parts, used BMW vehicles with or without taxation registration, workshop for repair and installation services. Our slogan became “CM Import where BMW owners need only shop in one place”. A slogan for which since we have followed up with our large program and low prices.
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2001
CM Import decides to purchase competing company Cartech in Odense on Fyn. Also at this time the decision was made to change the company name to “BMW specialist” in both the Odense and Nordborg branches. Following the purchase of Cartech, the combined workshop, warehouse and showroom inside space of 550 square meters divided was now a combined area of over 1000 square meters.
Price Guarantee
This was also the year when BMW specialist decided to create a price guarantee which since its inception has been a part of our business concept. The guaranty is “We guarantee that you, the customer will receive your BMW parts/ accessories/ repairs to the country’s lowest prices taking quality into account.”
Nordborg Branch
It was decided that the Nordborg store should be a combined new and used store as they specialized in recycling damaged BMWs, maintaining the necessary authorization and certification that this process requires. Selection was now very large as there was always between 150-200 traffic damaged vehicles in stock for recycling. At this point Nordborg was up to 8 employees. Most of the parts were sent out in mail orders yet there was also many parts installed in their workshop as well.
Odense Branch
The Odense store exclusively sold new BMW parts and accessories while maintaining a workshop equipped with highly technical equipment including all the necessary special BMW tools require to carry out all required repairs. At this time Odense had 5 employees. Since then the Odense store has operated as the central warehouse, purchasing dept and business development dept for the whole Schmiedmann Group.
Norway Branch
2001 was also the year where after a lot of pressure from customers in Norway, it was decided to establish a branch in Norway as a franchise. The franchise owner was previously a workshop manager for BMW Norway who could immediately see opportunities in the concept.
Denmark’s largest website with parts and accessories for BMW
In 2001, great focus was paid to marketing. An employee was hired to exclusively handle marketing projects including the website. The website which became Scandinavian’s largest and most visited BMW website www.bmwspecialisten.dk now known as www.schmiedmann.com. Additionally this was the year the online –shop began to take hold.
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2002
An unmanned mail order branch Schmiedmann GmbH Flensburg was established, where orders could be sent all over Germany. Today this branch is manned and run by Mr. Dirk Tepel, who was previously warehouse manager for BMW Albert Bauer in Flensburg.
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2003
This was the year that the Nordborg branch expanded greatly. The combined inside space was expanded by 1000 square meters giving a new total of 1500 square meters and the outside storage area expanded to 8000 square meters. The Odense branch also expanded its combined insides area from 500 to 1000 square meters. 2003 was also the year that after a dispute with BMW AG Munich it was decided to change the company name from BMW specialist to Schmiedmann as was the name of the German mail order branch.
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2004
In 2004 Scmiedmann expanded with a long awaited branch in Copenhagen. Our Norwegian branch was also expanded by 200 square meters. Also our new Dynamic website in 3 languages Danish / English / German was launched giving customers the opportunity to purchase with credit card.
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2008
Schmiedmann opened a franchise branch in Sweden on May 1. It was started and still owned/ run by Mr. Viktor Örtegren. The store was opened in Kungsbacka, which is 20 km south of Göteborg, simultaneously opening the website www.Schmiedmann.se for online sale of BMW parts for the Swedish market.
Schmiedmann Baltic established in Latvia. This branch was to handle the sale of BMW parts and accessories to customers in the Baltic States Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The branch was started and still run by 2 partners Vladimir Komendantov and Roman Serdjuk all of whom were self employed entrepreneurs in the construction industry.
Schmiedmann Nordborg expands by an additional 2000 square meters of parking space, giving even more room for BMW recycling vehicles.
Status of year 2008
Company:
- 3 Danish branches
- 4 International branches (more under development)
Total of 45 employees employed in Schmiedmann Group
International sale.:
BMW parts now sold all over the world with the most orders going to Norway/Sweden/ Germany / Finland/ Faroe Islands and America. The Danish market still represents the most turnover in sales.
Growth:
Since founding, a yearly growth in turnover of an average 40% per year.
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2009
This was the year the decision was made to close the Copenhagen Branch that was run as a franchise from our premises in Greve. Despite a good turnover of approx 12,000,000 dkk + taxes when the branch was at its highest, the franchise owner due to bad personal financial decisions, was unable to continue. The Branch was then closed and the premises sold.
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2010
Schmiedmann Norway changed owners. The then presiding and previous chairman of the BMW Club Norway took over Schmiedmann Norway and moved the branch from Skien to Oslo.
Schmiedmann Finland branch was established in 2010 as a franchise and run still today by owner Toni Kärkkäinen who was previously running a BMW specialist shop but could see the advantages of being a part of the Schmiedmann Group.
2010 was also the year that due to the economic crisis in Denmark, Europe and the closing of our branch in Copenhagen the year before, Schmiedmann group for the first time since its beginning, did not have an impressive turnover percantage rate. Following a meeting of Schmiedmann Denmark’s management , it was decide to put into action an international plan to create future growth in the market. We had over the years, worked on translating our website (which we can call the world’s largest BMW website with 19,000 different products) into both English and German, while creating an internationally competitive price structure at the same time. Additionally we began to produce our own unique Schmiedmann products. Taking this all into consideration we felt our company had something to offer and the time and conditions were right to execute a focused international growth plan.
An expensive international advertising campaign was started and the attention of the international community could be felt immediately. It was apparent that the investment was a wise choice and bore fruit very quickly.
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2011
The international breakthrough became a reality.
The Schmiedmann Holland branch was established as a franchise. It is owned and run by Kenneth Olsson and Martijn Schoenmakers, who previously ran a company specializing in BMW but could also see the opportunities in being a part of the Schmiedmann group.
A branch in Hungary was also established a franchise and is run by Mr. Müller Belá, who was previously a self employed entrepreneur from another branch of industry.
Status Year 2011
Company:
- 2 Danish branches
- 7 International branches (more under development)
Now a total of 63 employees now employed with Schmiedmann Group
International sale.:
BMW parts and accessories now sold all over the world.
Growth:
Impressive 53.5%. in 2011