Sales at Birkenstock have been climbing since 2014 and further success after product placement in the Barbie film means that the German brand is heading to the US stock market. To keep up with rising popularity the company has opened a new factory in the federal republic.
Birkenstock’s factory in Görlitz, Saxony, can no longer keep up with worldwide demand for the orthopaedic sandals. In what will be the largest single investment in the almost 250-year-long history of the international company, Birkenstock has opened a new factory in Pasewalk, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
Development took around 17 months, and the number of employees at the factory - which has been built in the Berlin-Szczecin Business Park near the Polish border - is set to increase from 200 to 1.000.
Selecting the business park site was intentional after the company benefitted from its main factory in Görlitz being close to the Polish border. The site in Pasewalk has lain empty in recent years, but now Birkenstock will be joined on the site by a shelving unit production company.
The opening of the new factory in Pasewalk marks a milestone in the company’s so-called “ramp-up” expansion process.
Since the new factory intends to relieve an overburdened production line in Görlitz, the original factory will now focus on producing latex and cork for Birkenstock soles.
To celebrate the expansion, Birkenstock plans to produce a new “Made in Pasenwalk” line of sandals.
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