Tally Weijl
| Type | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1984 |
| Headquarters | Basel, Switzerland |
| Products | Wear Accessories |
| Website | tally-weijl.com |
Tally Weijl is a leading international fashion label which designs, produces and sells fashion for young women and girls in retail stores. TALLY WEiJL was founded in 1984 by Tally Elfassi-Weijl and Beat Grüring in Switzerland. Today the company is represented in 31 countries worldwide with over 760 stores, employing more than 2,800 staff members (Jan 2012).[1] In 2011, TALLY WEiJL generated external sales of 515 million euros.
Contents |
[edit] The company today
The headquarters of TALLY WEiJL, its Service and Support Center, is based at Basel (Switzerland) and the TALLY WEiJL Design Studio in the centre of Paris (France). The Distribution Centers for Mid- and Eastern Europe is located in Lörrach (D) while the Swiss location is in Zofingen (CH) and Milan for the Southern European market. Stores in over 31 countries receive deliveries from these three distribution centers (Austria/ Belarus/ Bosnia & Herzegovina/ Bulgaria/ China/ Kosovo/ Croatia/ Cyprus/ Czech Republic/ France/ Germany/ Greece/ Hungary/ Ireland/ Italy/ Lebanon/ Lithuania/ Malta/ Montenegro/ The Netherlands/ Poland/ Portugal/ Serbia/ Slovakia/ Slovenia/ Spain/ Switzerland/ Turkey/ Ukraine/ Estonia/ Russia).[2] Approximately the half of all stores belong solely to TALLY WEiJL while the remaining stores are in the hands of franchise partners. In 2011, TALLY WEiJL generated external sales of 515 million euros.
[edit] History
All began in 1984 when Tally Elfassi-Weijl created her first fashion designs to bridge the waiting time for the Hotel School in Lausanne. In a small garage in the Swiss municipality of Lohn (Canton of Solothurn), she designed twelve collections per year while studying. Together with Beat Grüring, the company founders – still in their own car at the time – supplied the large Swiss fashion stores and boutiques. The revolutionary aspect was that the sexy trends by TALLY WEiJL were always in the fashion stores within two to four weeks. “Just in time” was their key to success. The two company founders soon had the urge to also sell their new sexy collections in their own stores in order to even be closer to their customers. As a result, the first TALLY WEiJL store opened in Fribourg (Switzerland) in 1987. In 1993, the newly established TALLY WEiJL company entered the retail business at a very early stage, developed its own store concept and opened further stores in Switzerland with its first franchise partners. The founders enjoyed what they did and soon ventured into new markets. In 1997, they opened their first store in Germany and three years later the first Polish store. In 2000, already more than 50 TALLY WEiJL stores existed in Europe. In 2004, TALLY WEiJL created its first advertising campaign with the “totally sexy” slogan. This is how the brand identity evolved on the basis of the existing TALLY WEiJL values. In the last few years, TALLY WEiJL has opened new stores throughout all of Europe, at times more than a hundred per year. Today, TALLY WEiJL has more than 760 stores in 31 countries.
[edit] The founder and CEO
Tally Elfassi-Weijl was born in Tel Aviv to parents of Rumanian and Dutch origin. Altogether she is the co-founder, CEO and head of the Design Center of TALLY WEiJL. Initially she studied art history and tourism in Paris. Shortly after she designed her first collection in 1984 while simultaneously applying at the School of Hotel Management in Lausanne. This was the collection which ultimately lead to her success and the business formation of TALLY WEiJL.
Beat Grüring is co-founder and CEO of TALLY WEiJL. He operates the business activity from the Service and Support Center in Basel.
