C. Schous Fabriker A/S – Direkte fra Fabrik til Forbruger

Resumé

I artiklen redegøres der for, hvorfor Den Gamle By har valgt at prioritere etablering og formidling af netop et Schous Sæbehus i museets nye 1927-kvarter. C. Schous Fabriker var virksomheden, som stod bag fabrikationen og leverancerne til Schous Sæbehus og andre sæbeudsalg. I det følgende vil C. Schous Fabrikers historie blive belyst, set i forhold til den samfundsmæssige og markedsmæssige udvikling. Der sættes fokus på betydningen af familieejerskabet og på organisationens udvikling og tilpasning til skiftende tider. Der bliver også set nærmere på varesortimentets tilpasning til forbrugernes behov, og på koncernens markedsføringsarbejde. I 1974 gik C. Schous Fabriker konkurs, og årsagerne til den søges belyst undervejs i artiklen.

In 1927 the family owned company C. Schous Fabriker produced and delivered goods to 946 Schou’s Soap Shops in Denmark. The open air museum Den Gamle By is currently building a new town quarter focusing on that year. As most Danish towns had one or more soap shops, it was found important to add one to the new town quarter. In doing so the history behind C. Schous Fabriker was looked into. The company was in existence from 1859 to 1974. In the article it is described how the company struggled in the beginning, overcame difficulties and began to flourish from approx. 1900. C. Schous Fabriker was especially successful under Lauritz Schou’s leadership, and when he died in 1938 the company slowly lost steam and finally collapsed in 1974. How C. Schous Fabriker developed its management structure, factories, product range, shops and marketing strategy is discussed in this article. Finally some of the reasons behind the collapse of C. Schous Fabriker are suggested.