G. Umbreit GmbH & Co. KG

G. Umbreit GmbH & Co. KG — commonly known simply as Umbreit — is a German family-owned book wholesaler (Barsortiment) headquartered in Bietigheim-Bissingen, north of Stuttgart. Its origins reach back to 1895, when the publisher Carl Malcomes founded a wholesale and commission book business. In 1912 the Leipzig bookseller Gustav Umbreit joined as a leading partner and the firm was renamed Süddeutsche Grosso-Buchhandlung G. Umbreit & Co.; in 1922 Gustav Umbreit's brother-in-law Ernst Bez became a further partner, beginning the Bez family's long association with the company. Today the holding company is Bez & Roth GmbH & Co. KG, and the fourth generation of the Bez family is active in management. Umbreit's core business is the Barsortiment — wholesale book distribution with overnight delivery — supported by its own Büchersammelverkehr (book-collection transport service) that brings orders from the Bietigheim-Bissingen warehouse and publishers' inserts to customers throughout Germany and to neighbouring countries such as Luxembourg and Switzerland. The company stocks roughly 380,000–400,000 titles (books, calendars, non-books and games) with a total inventory of more than three million copies, and it has sigelt (listed) in the Verzeichnis lieferbarer Bücher since 1972. Its customers are mainly owner-managed and independent bookshops, and it works closely with the book-trade cooperative LG Buch (Munich), with which it launched a central warehouse for members in 2024. Umbreit employs over 330 people at its Bietigheim-Bissingen site, with additional seasonal staff during the school-book and Christmas seasons. It reports annual revenue of around €115 million and a market share of roughly 9–10% of the German book-wholesale market. Beyond physical wholesale, Umbreit offers booksellers industry software (the BoNus merchandise-management system and BoNus Start), webshop solutions, a digital Barsortiment for e-books, and a PocketBook e-reader shop. It is a member of the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels. In 2009 it received the "Sozial engagiert" award from the Baden-Württemberg economics ministry and Caritas.

The origins of Umbreit reach back to 1895, when the publisher Carl Malcomes founded a wholesale and commission book business (Groß-Sortiment und Kommissionsgeschäft). In 1912 the Leipzig bookseller Gustav Umbreit (born 6 October 1879; died 2 June 1957) joined as a leading partner, and the company was renamed Süddeutsche Grosso-Buchhandlung G. Umbreit & Co. In 1922 Gustav Umbreit's brother-in-law Ernst Bez became a further partner. Later, the bookseller and publisher Max Bez (born 1920) led G. Umbreit & Co. in Stuttgart, as well as the companies Bez GmbH and Fleischhauer & Spohn. For decades the company was based in Stuttgart, on Calwer Straße; in 1969 it moved within the city to Maybachstraße. Because of steady growth, G. Umbreit GmbH & Co. KG relocated its Presse-Grosso (press wholesale) operation to a greenfield site in Bietigheim-Bissingen, north of Stuttgart, in 1980; the Barsortiment and head office followed in 1987/88. In 2009 the company sold the publisher Fleischhauer & Spohn (founded 1830 in Reutlingen, acquired by Gustav Umbreit in 1918) to the Tübingen-based Silberburg-Verlag, and in the same year Umbreit took over the Hamburg firm Petersen Buchimport GmbH. In 2011 Susanne Bez joined the company, marking the fourth generation of the Bez family in management after Ernst Bez, Max Bez (joined 1957) and Thomas Bez (joined 1976). The company's own Presse-Grosso division, with a distribution area in north-eastern Baden-Württemberg, merged on 1 May 2015 with two other press-distribution companies to form Frankenthaler Pressevertrieb GmbH & Co. KG, based in Frankenthal (Pfalz); this business was later absorbed into 4Press GmbH & Co. KG, based in Machern. Following a joint venture between Umbreit and Brockhaus/Commission (Kornwestheim) in the publishers' delivery (Verlagsauslieferung) segment under the Brockhaus/Commission umbrella on 1 July 2015, Umbreit concentrated exclusively on its activity as a book wholesaler. On 1 January 2024 Solvey Munk and Norbert Udroiu moved up into the management board. The management team also includes Susanne Bez and Ingrid Stratmann. Clemens Birk is spokesman of the management board and responsible for purchasing, HR, accounting, financial planning, controlling and the management of Petersen Buchimport; Solvey Munk is responsible for sales, transport logistics, marketing and corporate communications; Norbert Udroiu for project management, IT, e-commerce and technical operations. In 2024, together with LG Buch, Umbreit launched a central warehouse for members of the book-trade cooperative. Umbreit is a member of the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels. In 2009 the Baden-Württemberg economics ministry and Caritas awarded the wholesaler the title "Sozial engagiert 2009". The company's holding structure is Bez & Roth GmbH & Co. KG.

• 2024

  Solvey Munk and Norbert Udroiu join the management board (1 January); Umbreit and LG Buch launch a central warehouse for cooperative members.

• 2015

  Presse-Grosso division merges into Frankenthaler Pressevertrieb GmbH & Co. KG (1 May); joint venture with Brockhaus/Commission in publishers' delivery (1 July), after which Umbreit focuses exclusively on book wholesaling.

• 2011

  Susanne Bez joins the company, marking the fourth generation of the Bez family in management.

• 2009

  Umbreit sells publisher Fleischhauer & Spohn to Silberburg-Verlag and takes over Petersen Buchimport GmbH; receives "Sozial engagiert 2009" award.

• 2008

  Umbreit starts organising regular BoNus user meetings in Bietigheim-Bissingen and offers a webshop solution for bookshops.

• 2006

  Umbreit begins offering the BoNus merchandise-management system developed by SoftLevel GmbH.

• 1987

  Barsortiment and head office move to Bietigheim-Bissingen (1987/88).

• 1980

  Presse-Grosso operation relocates to a greenfield site in Bietigheim-Bissingen.

• 1976

  Thomas Bez joins the company.

• 1972

  Umbreit begins listing (sigelt) in the Verzeichnis lieferbarer Bücher.

• 1969

  Company moves within Stuttgart from Calwer Straße to Maybachstraße.

• 1957

  Max Bez joins the company.

• 1922

  Ernst Bez, Gustav Umbreit's brother-in-law, becomes a further partner.

• 1918

  Gustav Umbreit acquires the publisher Fleischhauer & Spohn (founded 1830 in Reutlingen).

• 1912

  Leipzig bookseller Gustav Umbreit joins as leading partner; company renamed Süddeutsche Grosso-Buchhandlung G. Umbreit & Co.

• 1895

  Publisher Carl Malcomes founds a wholesale and commission book business, the origin of Umbreit.

Mid-sized family-owned book wholesaler serving independent and owner-managed bookshops in Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland, with a focus on overnight delivery, own transport logistics and book-trade services.

• Barsortiment

  Wholesale book distribution with overnight delivery, stocking roughly 380,000–400,000 titles and over three million copies.

• Büchersammelverkehr

  Own book-collection transport service delivering orders from the Bietigheim-Bissingen warehouse and publishers' inserts to customers in Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland; over two million kilometres driven per year.

• Central school-book processing

  First wholesaler to offer central processing of public school-book orders, including direct delivery to schools if desired by the ordering bookseller.

• BoNus / BoNus Start

  Merchandise-management software for bookshops, developed by SoftLevel GmbH and offered by Umbreit since 2006; BoNus Start is a modular version.

• Digital Barsortiment

  E-book distribution based on the ceebo platform by Media Control, integrated into bookshops' webshops and ordering applications.

• PocketBook e-reader shop

  Cooperation with PocketBook; Wi-Fi-enabled PocketBook e-readers bought via Umbreit are automatically linked to the respective bookshop's shop.

1. 1Umbreit Websiteumbreit.de
2. 2Daten, Zahlen, Fakten, Philosophie, Unternehmen | Umbreit Websiteumbreit.de
3. 3Umbreit (Buchgroßhändler) – Wikipediade.wikipedia.org
4. 4G. Umbreit GmbH & Co. KG – Wikidatawikidata.org
5. 5Umbreit Websiteumbreit.de
6. 6Umbreit Websiteumbreit.de