Stöckli Bike: Kick out the Stöckli family?

The news came as a bang to many. The Stöckli family is stepping down from Stöckli Swiss Sports AG after 80 years - the company was founded in 1935 - following the acquisition of the Swiss ski and bike manufacturer by the Kaufmann family of entrepreneurs, who are based in the same region and have held significant stakes for 20 years. Beni Stöckli Sr. and his wife Rita have already retired from the board of directors, and Beni Stöckli Jr. is to be replaced by a new CEO at the end of the year. What has led to these steps is not clear to outsiders, but at first glance it looks like a sacking. They responded immediately to our critical questioning. Niklaus Knüsel, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company, has contacted us personally and presents the facts of the case verbatim as follows: "The Stöckli family had been planning the sale of its shares in the company for some time. With the adjustment of the corporate strategy, the right time had come for the Stöckli family to carry out this intention. The resignation of Beni Stöckli jr. is directly related to the sale of the company shares by the Stöckli family". What the motivation of Beni Stöckli Jr. is to leave the company, one can only speculate. Was he no longer the right man for the job, even though he had just won the SwissAward? Why resign when the company is doing well? But perhaps the new CEO, who has not yet been found, will also provide new impetus. It is pleasing that the company wants to hold on to the Swiss location and the jobs, but the strategy is being tweaked. Running and snowboarding are to be abandoned, ski and bike are to be worked on more intensively, new specialist dealers are to be found in the bike sector and the existing stores are to be "spruced up".