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| Company type | Public (FWB: USE) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retailing |
| Founded | 1946 |
| Founder | Beate Uhse-Rotermund |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | In more than 60 countries worldwide |
| Products | Sex shops |
Beate Uhse Group BV (formerly Beate Uhse AG) is a German industry group which focuses on selling adult entertainment in the form of sex toys, lingerie, clothing and pornography. It is the most successful company in the German sex industry,[1] and the country's leading pornography retailer.[2]
It operates in the three business units Retail, Mail Order and Wholesale. The Entertainment division was sold to tmc Content Group AG in September 2016.[3]
It currently has over 1,500 employees. It is active in 60 countries and has been listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since 1999. The company's founder, Beate Uhse-Rotermund, remained the chairwoman of the company until her death in 2001.[1] In 2004, the company opened the first Mae B. shop, one of what was to become a chain of sex shops specifically aimed at female consumers. In 2004, the combined sales of the Beate Uhse industry group was €280 million, making it the largest distributorofadult-related entertainment and products in the world. Profits dropped significantly between 2006 and 2007.[citation needed]
As of 30 September 2007, the company employed 1,425 people and generated sales of just under €271 million in 2006. In 2009, just under €231 million were implemented, the number of employees at the end of the year 1,222. In 2010, €197.7 million were implemented,[citation needed] the number of employees was 975. In 2012, €144 million were still implemented, the number of employees was 704. In 2015, sales amounted to €128 million. The number of employees was 600 in 2016. 150 jobs were to be reduced. 16 of the 78 stores, including 3 in Germany, were to be closed.[4]
Since 2020, the company has been listed as Beate Uhse Group BV and headquartered in Veendam, Netherlands.
The company was founded by former German war-time pilot and sex pioneer Beate Uhse-Rotermund[1] in 1946 and started out as a distributor of pamphletsonfamily planning called Schrift X (Document X) which was a major success. In 1962, the company opened the world's first sex shopinFlensburg, West Germany.[1] When pornography was finally made legal in West Germany in 1976, Beate Uhse was well-prepared with a widely known and respected brand name and an established mail order business. By 1992, it owned 30 sex shops and 25 cinemas, had a turnover of 100 million Deutschmarks, and 10 million customers visited its premises.[2]
With the upcoming of free internet pornography, paid services suffered decline.
On 15 December 2017, the company filed for insolvency in self-administration.[5]
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