The bookstore chains Thalia and Osiander want to open a joint bookstore in Constance for the first time next spring. It will then operate under the name Thalia Osiander on more than 700 square meters, as both family companies announced. “We are expanding our bookstore network as a nearby meeting place,” said a Thalia spokeswoman. Osiander Managing Director Christian Riethmüller wants to use the concept to test to what extent a bookstore can benefit from combining both brands: namely the “regional awareness” of Osiander and the “nationally strong brand” of Thalia. Riethmüller had already entered into a sales partnership with Thalia in 2020. The place Konstanz with its many tourists is particularly suitable for this experiment. The existing Osiander bookstore in Constance will remain unaffected by the reopening. And the closing of a second branch in Konstanz in the spring has nothing to do with the current step, says Riethmüller.
“We are excited to see how the new concept will be received by our local customers.”
Thalia does not want to rule out that further joint branches will follow: “We are initially concentrating on the new location in Constance and are excited to see how the new concept is received by our customers on site,” says the Thalia spokeswoman.
However, there are renewed fears that Thalia could now also swallow Osiander, which both rule out. When Thalia and the Aachen chain Mayersche merged at the beginning of 2019 to form the largest German bookseller with around 355 branches at the time, the surprise was great. Especially since the Mayersche with 55 shops was closely linked to Osiander from Tübingen. A year later, the Riethmüllers entered into a sales partnership with Thalia in the areas of purchasing, internet shop and IT. The Osiander sales company is majority-owned by Thalia.
For the 425th anniversary in 2020, it was said that Osiander would remain an independent company. “We will not merge with Thalia,” said Riethmüller at the time. He stays with it. “Osiander will continue to remain independent. With the first joint Thalia Osiander bookstore, we will intensify our cooperation, which has existed since 2020, in order to learn even better from each other,” says Riethmüller. “I want to continue making certain decisions on my own, that was the goal from the start.” Ingo Kretzschmar, head of the Thalia bookstore chain, also told the SZ in autumn 2022 that there would be no merger. “I’m not trying to have a Thalia bookstore in every town,” he said. “The variety of different bookstores is good for the industry.” Thalia operates 347 stores nationwide, Osiander 61 in the southwest.