Karl Kurz - a life for the tire!
Wendlingen/Landau 27.04.2020/87/XNUMX Unique? grand senior? warhorse? mastermind? Master of his trade? globetrotter? maker? Swabian inventor? entrepreneur? switchman? Visionary? - Somehow everything fits Karl Kurz - at XNUMX years old, he combines so many characteristics in his person like hardly anyone else in the industry.
1955 - just 23 years old, he laid the foundation for his short empire on the Olgaeck in the middle of the Swabian state capital - the trade in carcasses and used tires. Very early on he made worldwide connections through North, South and Central America, Asia and Africa. The European community was not yet born; Karl Kurz was a “born European” from the start. Thanks to this enormous openness, he quickly acquired a high level of specialist knowledge of the world's tire markets.
Established quickly
His trade in carcasses and used tires in Stuttgart flourished and the premises quickly became too small. At the beginning of the 60s he moved the company headquarters to Leinfelden-Echterdingen.
The rapid increase in motorization in Germany supported his business. Gogomobile, Prinz-NSU, VW Beetle, DKWs and of course the Swabian Mercedes vehicles became more and more popular. Gradually, medium-sized companies were able to afford their own cars and the number of customers grew rapidly. Karl Kurz shaped the tire trade in his region for over 30 years. Selling, winning new customers, driving the "business" forward with incredible energy, realizing new ideas and building contacts that lasted a lifetime, that's his passion.
He is always a businessman and entrepreneur in the first place. At the end of the 1980s, many companies wanted to make money from tires. The stock of vehicles was now so large that it became a lucrative business for many master mechanics. Tire dealers shot up like mushrooms and large retail chains emerged, making life difficult for retailers. The competition became correspondingly tough.
Karl Kurz has also been dealing with the topic of carcass trade for a long time. Carcasses (tire base) that have been used primarily for retreading since the 1950s and used tires that were exported. By the early 1990s, car tires were also being made
retreaded and the carcass was the essential basis. It was only with the import of cheaper new tires that car retreading became less important. This turned these carcasses into used tires and Karl Kurz recognized early on that the disposal of used tires is a business model that can last for a long time. Because - as long as cars drive on tires, used tires accumulate. And every year there were more.
restart
In 1989 at the age of 57 - by then many were already thinking about retirement - Karl Kurz started again and completely rebuilt his business model with the move to Wendlingen.
Scrap tires are now its main business model, with a particular focus on sustainability from the start. Half measures are not his thing - either completely or not at all.
Of course, his worldwide connections help him with the new business model. Over the years he has built up a network that is second to none. He knows "God and the world" and that was good for the used tire business.
In 68, at the age of 1997, he took over the 16.000 square meter company premises and some employees from Gummi-Mayer in Landau and expanded his sphere of activity with this second location. The waste tire disposal business is growing successfully and with the location in Landau he can shred the old tires into palm-sized pieces.
The industry is important to him and he is looking for a successor
At the same time, Karl Kurz is involved in the Federal Association of Tire Trade and Vulcanizer Crafts (BRV) and, together with the then BRV Managing Director Peter Hülzer, founds the working group for old tire disposal in the BRV. This working group is committed to the topic of certification and sets the stricter framework conditions together with other disposal companies.
KURZ received its first certification in 2003. At the same time, Karl Kurz invests in a new, more powerful shredder system. One topic worries the agile entrepreneur: Who will continue my business? At the age of 75 he is feverishly looking for a successor; one of his most difficult missions, which he does not succeed at first go. His attempts to find a successor of the same caliber fail. However, that does not stop him from expanding and expanding the company. In 2007 the warehouse in Landau moved to a larger property. From the middle of the same year, his granddaughter - Hanna Schöberl - strengthened the team and relieved her grandfather wherever possible. The company continues to grow and prosper. More excavators, roll-off containers and container vehicles are constantly being purchased so that the large amount of used tires can be managed. At the same time, the logistic competence grows. The "homegrown" Hanna Schöberl has worked in two years, asserts itself and receives the power of attorney.
In 2012 Karl Kurz celebrated his 80th birthday. In the same year, the company premises in Landau were enlarged to 25.000 square meters and a year later he doubled the factory premises in Wendlingen. In the best of health and still very active in the company, he celebrates the company's 2015th anniversary in 60. Due to the changed situation on the used tire market, Karl Kurz is committed to founding an industry initiative. Under his leadership, with the good contacts and the BRV managing director Peter Hülzer, he succeeds in bringing the most important and large used tire disposal companies to one table at the NUFAM in Karlsruhe. His vision that there are only certified used tire disposal companies that deal with the secondary raw material used tires in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner has not yet been fully realized, but with the ZARE initiative (certified used tire disposal companies) he is on the right track together with many other disposal companies. In 2017 he appoints his granddaughter Hanna Schöberl as managing director, who has learned the skills for the used tire business from her grandfather over the past ten years.
Rubber modified asphalt
In 2019 another dream will come true for him. Since 2015, KURZ has been producing high-quality, single-variety rubber powder from truck peeling coils in Landau. A secondary raw material for different products and the best way to create new products from old rubber. As part of the overall renovation and the new company building in Wendlingen, he had the company premises fitted with rubber-modified asphalt. Together with a local road builder and a development team from Evonik, the rubber powder produced in-house is processed with the bitumen. The result is a hard-wearing, long-lasting asphalt. If many roads are covered with rubber-modified asphalt in the future, Karl Kurz would have achieved a goal in life.
On May 5.5.2020th, 65 he celebrates his XNUMXth company anniversary. (The Queen in England is only three years longer at the start.) In good health and with his family.
As active in private as in the company
One would think that with such a fulfilling business life there is no time for private matters: Far from it: Karl Kurz has been married to Mathilde Kurz since 1971, has four daughters and two grandchildren and has long been a great-grandfather. He was and is a passionate car driver, enjoys bowling, still accompanies friends on hunts and enjoys playing cards. Until last year he did his rounds of golf. He has traveled to countless countries in his life and often brought back contacts from these trips. His openness to other countries, customs and nations builds bridges; Accordingly, he campaigns for immigrants and in many social areas. He loves a good wine and a cultivated Swabian meal. A great, fulfilling life.
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