Douglas Holding

Douglas Holding AG
	File:Douglas Holding.svg
Company type	Aktiengesellschaft (FWB: DOU)
Industry	Retailing
Founded	1949
Headquarters	Hagen, Germany
Key people	Henning Kreke (President and CEO), Jörn Kreke (Chairman of the board)
Services	Perfume, book, jewelry, clothing and confectionery retail stores
Revenue	€3.321 billion (2009/2010)
Operating income	€141.7 million (2009/2010)
Net income	€75.9 million (2009/2010)
Total assets	€1.713 billion (September 2010)
Total equity	€764.8 million (September 2010)
Number of employees	24,655 (September 2010)
Website	www.douglas-holding.de

Douglas Holding AG is a German perfume, book, jewelry and confection retailer based in Hagen, which owns more than 1,900 stores, more than 1,500 of which are in Germany, in Europe and the United States.

The roots of the company date back to 1821, when the perfume and soap factory J.S. Douglas Söhne was founded in Hamburg. In 1863, the first Christ subsidiary was founded. In 1910, the first Douglas perfumery was opened in Hamburg. The actual predecessor of the Douglas Holding AG, the Hussel Süßwarenfilialbetrieb GmbH, was founded in 1949 and transformed into a joint stock company in 1962. In 1969 it acquired the Parfümerie Douglas, which soon became the main pillar of the corporation, which became known as Hussel Holding AG in 1976. In 1989, the company changed its name to Douglas Holding AG.

The group operates retail stores under the brand names Douglas (perfume and cosmetics), Thalia (books), Christ (jewellery), AppelrathCüpper (women's clothing) and Hussel (confectionery).