Gabriel 150 years - Flipbook - Page 23
±∫±∫ and ±∫≤∞, but after that the situation took
a drastic turn for the worse. From ±∫≤±, the
company operated at a loss, and no dividend
was paid.
Kjærs Mølle’s decline was closely related to Denmark’s economic difficulties. Much of Danish
industry experienced hard times in the ±∫≤∞s:
Demand in Europe increased, but Danish production facilities were worn and could not take
advantage of the opportunity this presented.
Exports stagnated and imports increased. The
level of unemployment in ±∫≤∞-≤± exploded
from ∑% to almost ≤∞%.
Kjærs Mølle was hard hit by these developments, as the factory sold its goods to the depressed Danish home market. To add insult to injury, the company held large quantities of raw
materials and finished goods that could not be
sold at a profit because the cost of raw materials
had quickly fallen to half the price paid for them.
The following comment, possibly written by the
managing director around ±∫∂±, describes the
situation in the late ±∫≤∞s:
“The years following ±∫≤∑ were very bad; it
was difficult to sell the goods. We traded then
with wholesalers, makers of ready-to-wear clothing, haberdashery shops, draper’s shops and
Above: The engine room in the anniversary year,
embroidery merchants. (...) In these years there
±∫∞±. Large sums were invested in updated equip-
was, of course, no money for purchasing new
ment in the second half of the ±π∞∞s, resulting in
equipment and even less for building, even
an enormous increase in productivity.
though by this time the factory was in great
Below: The stockroom in ±∫∞±. Kjærs Mølle
need of renovation in virtually all departments,
carried a wide variety of different qualities and
and numerous times we had to ask the factory
designs, much to the concern of the bookkeeper.
inspection authorities for permission to postpone the work and repairs they had demanded.
(...) A retail shop we had opened in Copenhagen
The great depression
in the hope of building up the business was
Everyone expected that peace would lead to
liquidated in ±∫≤∏.”
growth. And Kjærs Mølle did turn a profit in the
first few years following the war. The sensational
The difficulties are reflected in the annual re-
∂∞% dividend paid in ±∫±π, following an out-
ports. Big write-offs on stock were made in
standing year, fell to a more normal ≤∞% in
both ±∫≤∫ and ±∫≥∞, and from ±∫≤π to ±∫≥≤, not
1898-1940
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