Kitchen manufacturer

DAN courts kikaLeiner customers and employees

DAN - here Managing Director Erwald Marschallinger - is on course for growth.(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

As an attractive and crisis-proof employer, Austrian Post entered the race for employees immediately after kikaLeiner's renewed insolvency became known. Now kitchen manufacturer DAN also wants to take advantage of this difficult time: The Austrian market leader is taking on additional staff and also helping customers of the furniture retailer.

DANKüchen has been part of the Swedish Ballingslöv Group since 2023, and Ewald Marschallinger has been Managing Director of the Austrian market leader based in Upper Austria since the spring - and both seem to be something of a tailwind for the company, even if the sharp drop in demand on the new-build market has left its mark.

DAN is now not only the number one in Austria, it is also the market leader in Slovenia and Croatia, and is growing in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Italy and Germany. And it is precisely this fact that has led to the company taking on additional staff and "applying" to employees at kikaLeiner. DAN is looking for new employees in many areas - from planning and assembly to customer service and finance.

Around 400 people are currently employed at DANKüchen.(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

Speaking of customer service: although capacity utilization is good until the first quarter of 2025, the company wants to help customers affected by the kikaLeiner insolvency. "In order to mitigate the damage suffered, special discounts and extra rebates are being applied, and short delivery times are being made possible through extra shifts," says Marschallinger, who reveals: "We have already been able to settle some cases positively."

Delivery before Christmas
Customers of kikaLeiner who have purchased a kitchen from a retailer should contact Manfred Huber, Head of Internal Sales, with the purchase contract or confirmation of a deposit. "Our production team will do everything possible to deliver orders that arrive by the end of November before Christmas," says Marschallinger.