How Puky, the bicycle brand for children, wants to become cool again

Marc Thiel had his first contact with Puky 23 years ago. At that time, his eldest son needed his first bike, it became a Puky classic in red. Today, after jobs at the retail giant Metro, in the banking and real estate industry, Thiel is co-head of Puky. Since he started working for the family business from Wülfrath near Wuppertal a year ago, he has been tasked with refreshing the brand, which has recently become somewhat outdated.

Puky rested on his fame and previous successes, says Thiel. While the traditional brand is struggling on the bicycle market after the end of the Corona boom, other manufacturers scored points – such as the Austrian newcomer Woom, which created a hype, especially among city parents, with its high-priced children’s bikes made of aluminum. Puky has no problem with products and innovations, says the manager: “But Puky could have put its products more in the shop window in recent years.”

At the heart of Thiel’s strategy is a modern product and brand language. This includes a new logo, a new brand claim and the first “Brand & Lifestyle Store” that Puky opened in Berlin this spring – at a location previously occupied by the popular bike manufacturer Rose Bikes. The goal that Thiel has stated is to also reach hipsters and influencers with the brand.

At the same time, Thiel, who runs the company together with co-boss Britta Sieper, looked at the product range to identify unnecessary costs. The manager says he found a very extensive range. Of more than 140 products, around 40 were thrown out, and the number is currently being thinned out, especially in terms of the variety of color variants. In the end, 65 to 75 core products should remain – mainly long-running favorites in classic colors as well as bikes with branding from license partners such as football clubs and those from which Puky earns high margins.

If you ask Thiel how the market for children’s bicycles will develop in the face of demographic trends and increasingly digital leisure offerings, he calculates that there were almost 700,000 births in Germany last year: “So the customers are still growing.” However, he admits that the growth potential in established markets such as Germany is limited. The goal here is to regain market share that Puky has lost to competitors.

The company is expected to grow again through increased internationalization – initially with a focus on European markets such as Portugal, Spain and Great Britain. Puky has not yet exhausted its potential there, says Thiel. He has further expansion targets in mind, such as the Gulf region or the USA. Thiel says he is aware that he still has hard work ahead of him at Puky. However, he is also a marathon runner in his free time: “I’m not at home on the sprint course.”