Hartlauer reveals expansion plans
Robert Hartlauer, head of eye wear and electronic goods specialist Hartlauer, has presented plans to open up to 30 new shops.Hartlauer said today (Tues) the firms concept is to increase its number of branches from the current 160 to between 180 and 190. A new shop opened in the Vorarlberg town of Rankweil only last week.The company was founded in 1971. It employs around 1,300 people and its headquarters are in Steyr, Upper Austria.Hartlauer, whose firm does business in Austria and in the Czech Republic, has not ruled out further activities abroad. “But this can take 10 years,” he admitted, referring to difficulties in the neighbouring country where two shops had to shut recently.Hartlauer who became company boss after his father, Franz Josef Hartlauer, who died of cancer 10 years ago said several already existing shops would be refurbished to become more attractive to customers.