STILORD - ABOUT US:
Our experience,
our manufacturing,
our Team!
COMPANY HISTORY
CHAPTER I
How it all began: No bag, no coffee
- but an idea
Our company story doesn't start in a day, but started with a young man, a fresh graduate of a university who is faced with a task: finding an affordable work bag. Not so easy, that's what our founder Max had to realize when he started his career. An almost unsolvable task: all the products he found were either too expensive or not good enough.
It was in 2007, the year which this young graduate of Aachen University of Applied Sciences starts his first job as an executive assistant at a large company. What helps on the first day to make a professional appearance in front of his new colleagues? Max was confident even back then: a repesentative bag!
The first own briefcase
Online store for bags - at that time still non-existent. After a long search inside Aachen's city, Max settled for a classic black briefcase made of cowhide. But in the end, this one went out of business faster than he himself did. The 249€? Training money! So the story ends - after only 7 months, by the way. For the time being!
Only a few years later, at the age of 26, the young, motivated and admittedly somewhat naive young professional decided to start his own business.
At the same time, at least three challenges arose:
It is the online trade:
Is this internet catching on at all?
He is alone:
Who is supposed to do all the work anyway? And he doesn't have a decent bag any more either!
There isn't even a coffee machine:
How is someone supposed to work overtime here?
CHAPTER II
The first bags
- and instant coffee after all
Where there are lots of challenges, creative solutions are required. But sometimes it's easy: shortly after the first employee, there's also a kettle, instant coffee - and thus endurable overtime :)
Many bags, many ideas
But one thing after the other: Even in the years after buying his first briefcase, Max found that little had happened in the online landscape. Our experience and insight:
If there are no solutions to a problem, we probably have to tackle it ourselves. The logical step - make contacts! A big leather goods Fair in Milan is thickly marked in red in the calendar. The plan: to establish contacts with well-known leather brands and to sell their bags online. After initial euphoria, however, disillusionment soon sets in. Instead of an open-hearted acceptance and enthusiasm for a new distribution channel, all that remained for us were rejections.
Whether the then well-known leather brands did not recognise the market or shied away from a direct comparison of quality or price - that will probably remain a secret forever. At this point, without resentment or gloating, we would like to thank all those who said "no". Everything that happened, was for good!
Because this is exactly where the brainstorm comes in: Disappointment becomes inspiration. We simply do it better! And so Max STILORD celebrated his official birthday on 06.08.2014.
CHAPTER III
Start-up life: First successes
& first coffee machine
Whether wiki or business dictionary: there are many clever definitions for a start-up. But for us it was like this: Max still packs the orders himself. The only marketing employee was learning Photoshop in a crash course and was visibly surprised when he had a customer on the phone for the very first time.
If there is a little time left, he also makes coffee - after all, we are now the proud owners of a filter coffee machine. New employees, colleagues and friends quickly join in: support was urgently needed - because things were going far better than expected.
The team: Young, wet behind the ears, but keen to try out themselves, the market and the product.
Even their own pets help with the start-up
CHAPTER IV
Still a family and team worker
- but now with a fully automatic machine
Teamwork - even during break!
And what does it all look like today? After a total of four moves: The office is bigger. The warehouse is bigger. So is the thirst for coffee. Just like our processes, our black luck is now fully automated! Even though we now have permanent teams for support, shipping, marketing, media design and IT, one thing has always remained: our team feeling!
LEATHER - A GIFT FROM NATURE
Leather is a product rich in tradition, developed and perfected over thousands of years. We are happy and proud to be a part of this tradition and to responsibly bring this craft into today's age.
Leather products are the epitome of responsible use of natural resources. They were created a long time ago, even before upcycling and recycling became inflationary words. We only make products from original leather. We pay special attention to maintaining the naturalness and character. We are simply certain: leather is naturally beautiful - and simply becomes more beautiful with time.
Another outstanding factor is the uniqueness. Every leather has its own colouration and surface texture. Therefore, all our leather bags are truly unique. Of course, we didn't want to deprive our customers of this feeling of exclusivity.
As a start-up based in Germany, we consider ourselves responsible for the selection of our foreign partner companies. We make sure that our production companies are certified according to SA8000. This certificate is an internationally valid seal which ensures that fair working conditions are observed. Twice a year, we visit our long-standing partner companies, thus strengthening the personal relationship that is close to our hearts. Both culturally and professionally, our worldwide partnerships regularly provide new inspirations.
VALUES AND PROMISES
Since the beginning of the company, Max and now his team have been guided by the following maxims:
- Design, practicability and durability of our leather bags are in the foreground. Minimalist, timeless elements for us and the next generations - this is a matter of the heart for us!
- Our products are not created on paper - we like to be inspired by nature, everyday objects and the whole world. Natural and minimalistic products that inspire - that's what we work on every day!
- Our products are not created on paper - we like to be inspired by nature, everyday objects and the whole world. Natural and minimalistic products that inspire - that's what we work on every day!
- Fair prices are dear to our hearts. We remember the original problem to be solved: Max was unable to find a bag that was both affordable and of high quality. Since we sell our products directly to the customer without middlemen, fair prices with high quality are our top priority. Another advantage we offer our customers is free delivery with every order.
- With our high-quality and durable products, we want to inspire our customers every day anew. That's why our dedicated support team is available to answer any questions or concerns you may have. With every satisfied buyer, we get a little closer to our goal.
SUSTAINABILITY PROMISE
For us, sustainability begins with the selection of materials, which are used to create a long-lasting product through timeless design and high-quality workmanship. But equally very fair working conditions, social commitment and extensive customer service are part of the sustainability promise at STILORD.
OUR COMMITMENT
We believe that each of us can make a big difference even with little things. That's why we support charities like stem cell research, hospices, animal welfare and more. We select these organisations together with our Facebook community by letting them participate in the selection process. In doing so, we make sure that organisations for children as well as projects in the sense of the environment are considered. In addition, we donate to at least one local project every year, directly on site in Essen. Last year, the decision was made in favour of the following three organisations:
Kinderherz Foundation: By sponsoring trees in the KinderHerz forest, we contribute to research projects on children's heart diseases at the Children's Heart Centre Aachen. We are particularly pleased that this project unites children and nature.
Cold aid of DRK Essen:The voluntary cold aid in Essen ensures that people without shelter get through the icy winter nights warm and safe. We are happy to support those in need directly on site in our home city of Essen through donations.
Save the Children: With a donation to the organisation Save the Children Germany registered association, 25 children could be equipped with school materials, thus paving the way to education. This will improve the future prospects of some of the children.
Every year, we are on the lookout for new projects and charitable organisations that need donations. We want to give our customers the chance to take part in the selection process and do something good together. Is there an organisation that is particularly close to your heart? Then please send us your suggestion to service@stilord.de. To bring joy to our customers and our community, we also regularly organise competitions or raffle STILORD vouchers on our social media channels.
OUR MISSION & VISION
As a young company, we of course never stop learning. We are always evolving, have visions, plans and of course goals for the future! In order to inspire our customers around the world with new designs, we work day after day to develop new styles, types of leather and colours. What we have already successfully started in Germany, France, Spain, Italy and the UK, we would now like to transport to the whole world - stylish and high quality bags made of genuine leather! In addition to the constant expansion of our product range, our main focus is therefore on internationalisation.
STILORD bags are exploring the world
Our vision:
From a start-up to an international brand
with recognition value
OUR TEAM
For us, start-up means primarily: a lot of work, a lot of team spirit and a lot to learn.
But just as much a part of it: meatball Tuesday, kebab day and joint coffee breaks. We even have our own food representative - every Thursday Max invites us to the big round. By now, this comes pretty close to the price of Max's first bag - with the difference that this time, at least from our point of view, the money is much better invested. But who is actually behind the STILORD team?
You have already met our managing director Max. Today, he no longer packs the parcels himself, but continues to take care of the concerns of the team and our long-standing partner companies.
Of course, we want to offer you the best support both before and after your purchase. If you contact our service team by phone or email, Kira and Lena will certainly help you with your request.
Have you been inspired by us on Instagram, discovered STILORD on Amazon and Google or found our guide on leather care? Behind the scenes is the Online Marketing Team: Christopher, Nora, Dana, Samuel, Viktoria, Christine, Lennart and Yasmin.
Our warehouse crew ensures that your order reaches you on time and packs the leather bags safely and lovingly. The shipping team has grown steadily over the last few years and now consists of Dustin, Marco, Pascal, Sven, Mohammad, Hjalte, Marvin and Helga.
Our online shop would be nothing without Tim, Frank, Ioannis and Salih. Any tasks and ideas around the topics of media design & IT are visualised and implemented by the five employees.
As a young company, we also offer students the opportunity to get to know the world of e-commerce and gain experience at STILORD during their internship. Would you like to become part of our motivated team? You can find open positions on [MeinPraktikum.de] or send us a speculative application to bewerbung@stilord.de.
A few impressions from previous trainees:
Chris: "What I particularly like about the internship at STILORD is that you are given the opportunity to immerse yourself in all areas of eCommerce. You gain a lot of practical experience in just a short time.
Sven: "I get my own projects where I can decide for myself how I want to achieve my goals. This freedom makes the internship at STILORD a lot more fun".
Nele: "As an intern at STILORD, you take on responsibility from day one and have the chance to learn a lot.