Stolzle Glassware for Consumers: As The Retail Landscape Changes, We Are Ready to Continue to Lead The Way Back

​By Mark Roland, Vice President Sales – Retail & Consumer

As we start to come out of the coronavirus pandemic, we are emerging back into a different retail landscape here in America and around the world. For sure, restaurants have been disrupted, but right alongside them are America’s retailers. Our estimation is that the brick and mortar retailers will shrink by 25% or so in terms of numbers of locations.

​And, with consumers currently leery of going back into retail shops, that number could grow as we begin to see that many cannot survive the time it takes for the full recovery to happen. So, we are definitely looking at a shrinking overall marketplace.
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That said, we’ve seen a strong uptick in online shopping. Retailers and catalog houses are skyrocketing upwards in terms of where consumers have gone to buy their glassware. And, of course, as that business model changes it puts different pressures on us in terms of warehousing, logistics and even how we tell the Stolzle story.
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That’s the great thing about being the actual manufacturer versus an importer or someone is simply sourcing glassware from a factory somewhere in the world. Stolzle can continue to adjust and ensure that the consumer continues to get a great customer experience whether they shop in a gourmet or kitchen store or they buy their Stolzle glassware online.

Today, Stolzle still has its roots in the small, independent retailers and gourmet & kitchen stores. However, with the growth of online shopping we have been able to expand the assortment that we offer to today’s consumer. Manufacturing in Germany and warehousing here in America allows us to expand and increase our inventories, making sure that our consumer customers get exactly the product they want – when they want it. Providing world-class customer service has always been a top priority for Stolzle.

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​​In fact, Stolzle has been manufacturing its glassware in Germany for more than 130 years and continues to make some of the world’s finest glassware using the latest in glass-making technology. In addition to making best-in-class products, Stolzle also invests in its packaging to help retailers better tell the Stolzle story - and to minimize breakage during transit. Less than 2% of the shipments of Stolzle products to retailers and consumers report any breakage during shipping. And, when those very infrequent events occur, Stolzle USA quickly responds, taking care of the problems. Again, at Stolzle, world-class customer service is our top priority.

Stolzle's QUATROPHIL wine glass collection is an example of our company's best-in-class capabilities

The Stolzle brand throughout the years has been always associated with quality and trust. Stolzle glassware is used by some of the finest restaurants and hotels around the world and is always in demand from top wine sommeliers. And that same quality that is demanded on the professional side is readily available to our consumer customers. And our quality is not just in our top-end products like our Quatrophil collection, quality and performance is crafted into every product that Stolzle makes no matter the price point.

STARlight stemware is one the newest collections available for the Consumer & Retail sectors from Stolzle USA Glassware

​A great example of that quality and attention to detail is the new, proprietary “pulled stem” technology that our factory has developed. Now, many of our machine-made wine glasses, like our STARlight stemware collection, that has a thinner, more elegant - and more durable – stem. The new STARlight stemware collection is classic at first sight, but trend setting at first touch. The special feature of the new series is the thickness - specifically the fineness of the glass. For example, the stem has a diameter that is about ten percent smaller than that of conventional machine-made glasses. And the goblet also has a noticeably thinner wall thickness compared to other glasses from machine production. In this way the STARlight series combines lightness with extraordinary elegance.
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All of these attributes give our new STARlight a look and feel that reminds users of mouth-blown crystal that would cost several times the price of a machine made product. This collection is another great example of Stolzle’s innovation, skill and knowledge at the factory level provides customers of all types with a much-improved, better performing overall product.

So, in addition to reliability of supply and great overall customer service, Stolzle being a true manufacturer allows it to continue to innovate, always with the intent of improving the product – and the beverage experience for the user.
So, there’s little doubt about the fact that with the global pandemic the landscape in the retail and consumer business has changed.

Here at Stolzle USA, we look ahead to the very busy holiday buying season. We are prepared to work with our partners and are ready to continue to lead, bringing great high-performance glassware to America’s consumers. ​​