“Fashion is more than just material. It’s a way of life.”
Modehaus Silomon is one of the oldest fashion stores in Ostfriesland and looks back on one of the richest traditions. Heida Haltermann is the owner of the family company. Upholding the traditions of corporate culture matters to her just as much as constant further development of the business.
“As a child, I was already aware of the constant presence of Gerhard Silomon”, says Heida Haltermann, describing the influence that the family business had on her childhood. Gerhard Silomon, generally known as Modehaus Silomon, has been a permanent feature in Aurich town centre since 1844.
Heida Haltermann belongs to the fourth generation of her family to run the fashion store. But her parents Wolfgang and Eika Mönkemeier never put her under pressure to take over the family firm. On the contrary: “They always gave me the freedom to take my own decisions and make my own experiences”, says the woman born in Ostfriesland. Even so, she was aware that deep in their hearts, her parents hoped she’d take over the business one day.
After passing the Abitur school-leaving examinations at Ulricianum grammar school in Aurich, Heida Haltermann trained as a retail sales assistant near Hamburg. She then did a business degree at Nagold in Southwestern Germany before working for a few years in business administration for a firm of management consultants in Munich. She returned home in the late 1990s, having decided for herself to continue the life’s work of her parents.
But then love and life intervened. In 2002, she and her husband, Sven Haltermann, moved to Schleswig-Holstein where they worked together to run his parent’s family business: Modehaus Behrens & Haltermann in Itzehoe. “It is a blessing that we found each other”, says the businesswoman today. After all, they came from similar backgrounds and had grown up in the same industry, so that they share the same experiences, views and goals.
But moving to Itzehoe was not the final solution for the Silomon business. It was quite natural for Sven and Heida Haltermann to fill the seat next to Wolfgang Mönkemeier – they’d always kept in close contact with her parents – even across the distance of nearly 300 kilometres.
Shaping and living corporate culture
When her father died quite suddenly, Heida Haltermann, who was 47 years old at the time, moved back to Aurich with her family to take over the business. That also includes Modehaus Silomon in Norden, opened there by Wolfgang Mönkemeier in 1996. Today, the Haltermanns own a Marc O’Polo shop and a VAUDE store in Norden as well.
Heida Haltermann remembers one thing in particular that he said to her: “Don’t think you’ve got to follow in my footsteps.” The businessman always felt it was important for his daughter to find and follow her own path through life. And she still does that today. “But always based on important traditions and the essential elements of our corporate culture”, emphasises the mother of four children. Her thoughts and actions are also shaped by gratitude and humility in handling her legacy.
She sees corporate culture as being closely linked to the values of a family company, which include having a close relationship with the team based on trust. The workforce call themselves the “Silomenese”. The feeling of togetherness that this implies was particularly apparent during the Covid-19 pandemic with all the accompanying uncertainty. “Nobody left us, everyone had faith that we’d manage to keep going together”, says the businesswoman, visibly moved. And they did indeed keep things going successfully.
The sales figures at all three sites have increased continuously in recent years, despite the crisis in stationary fashion retailing that the whole of Germany was suffering from already before the pandemic.
According to a study by the auditing and consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, one in three German fashion retailers had to close between 2010 and 2019. This was caused among others by the growing competition from online trading. The situation was exacerbated even further by the outbreak of Covid-19. That makes it all the more remarkable that recent years have seen Modehaus Silomon not just coping quite well with the situation but actually showing a clear upward trend.
Change instead of standstill
The Silomon proprietor lists various factors to explain this success, including the corporate values of reliability and honesty, as well as a passion for fashion as such. It’s better not to sell anything at all than something that doesn’t fit the customer or go with their style and personality: that is the motto with which Silomon established a good relationship with its customers on a sound basis of trust. The slogan “We are fashion” is the company’s DNA, according to Heida Haltermann, and contributes to every decision made. She is convinced that “fashion is more than just material to keep you warm. It’s a way of life, combined with a zest for life itself.”
Constant sharing and exchange with customers and staff is crucial for perceiving and responding to transformations and changes in fashion and buying behaviour. Travelling, attending trade fairs, talking to colleagues in the industry and the right specialist literature also help when it comes to detecting and implementing trends.
She likes to be part of the sales team on the shop floor, connecting departments, merchandise and people. But she also says: “I really want to be the boss. That means being strong for others and watching their backs.
The Silomonese should be able to rely on me!” Altogether, the Haltermanns have around 250 employees working in their stores. “We’re a team made up of very different characters”, the businesswoman knows. “It’s important to give them scope to be themselves while, at the same time, acting altogether as a whole.” The customers also notice the good working atmosphere, as emphasised in regular feedback.
Strong together
A healthy, positive working climate goes hand-in-hand with unity in the management. Strategic decisions affecting Silomon are always taken together and equally by both Haltermanns. So they don’t embody the traditional roles between man and woman. Or do they? Sven Haltermann is the CEO, she’s “a bit of everything else in addition”, says the woman from Aurich, alluding to all the many different tasks involved in daily business. They manage to work together closely because they both follow the same visions. “We each have our own strengths and are both grateful for the other’s. Of course we sometimes have differences of opinion. But friction generates power. We always find a common denominator in the end.”
They don’t try to separate business from their private lives. “The companies are always a constant presence”, grins Heida Haltermann. Work-life balance is something she can’t get her head around anyway. The whole thing’s misleading, because “we spend so much time at work. If it’s not an elementary part of our life, then that means so much is wasted.“ For the entrepreneur, her work is passion and pleasure – not a burden. As the mother of four children, she pursues a hybrid working model and does quite a lot from home at times. Besides being a businesswoman, she is someone who lives for her family. And: “My mother gave me a loving example of how to do it. I’m still grateful to her for that today.” Everyday life includes a willingness to compromise, as well as the division of labour with her husband. And sometimes, the one or other has to take a back seat – sometimes it’s the business, sometimes it’ll be the children. She remembers that from her own childhood. Being able to understand and trust each other are important aspects, not just at home in the private context but in business as well. After all, in the fashion industry there are many women in a similar situation.
The role of the Silomon women
Women have always played a special role in the history of Modehaus Silomon.
Heida Haltermann’s great-grandmother, Margarete Cramer, had to run the business as a mother of three children after the early death of her husband in 1926. After her two sons and successors died in the war, it was her daughter Charlotte Mönkemeier who took over the business – while raising four children at the same time.
Heida Haltermann grew up practically with these women. Her father often loved to tell her about them. His aim was to give his daughters the same self-confidence and strength on their life journeys. “I think he managed quite well”, says the entrepreneur with a smile, adding:
“I’d like to bring my daughters up in the same way, and give encouragement to our young female members of staff. Women can do everything men can do – and still be women.“
Would she like her children to take over the business one day? “Of course”, she answers clearly. But like her parents before her, she doesn’t want to put them under any pressure. This kind of decision will only work well if the children really want to do it with all their hearts. Heida Haltermann also took her decision with all her heart. “And I’m very glad that I did!”
Silomon GmbH & Co. KG
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