The Croozer story
Andreas Gehlen
Cologne native, 3 children, founder of the company now known as Croozer GmbH, will tell you the story of Croozer!
The first encounter
The history of the company now known as Croozer dates back to 1993. At the time, I had a 3-year-old daughter and had been living car-free in the Sülz district of Cologne for several years. It all started with a problem: how to take my daughter and her best friend to the playground. Transporting both of them by bike was obviously infeasible. Looking for a solution, I did a bit of research and soon happened upon the subject of bicycle trailers. It seemed like a brilliant idea: the ability to transport two children plus cargo by bike opened up a whole new world for me. The children were also totally thrilled with their new two-wheeled playroom. Child trailers in those days consisted of a frame with an aluminium floor and flimsily sewn-in seats. In line with the trends of the 90s, their colours were bold and garish. In spite of their unsophisticated designs, they were the only product that made it possible for me to get around in the city with two children and one bike.
Founding a business – from courtyard garage to medium-sized company
As a new bicycle-trailer enthusiast, I began wondering who was selling them and how much retailers knew about this type of product. I called 500 German bike shops to find out whether they sold bicycle trailers and if not, why. The results were clear: the trailer was still a niche product that had received little attention to date, and practically no one was actively marketing them. On the basis of this information, I founded the company Zwei plus zwei Marketing GmbH and created a catalogue as a virtual shop window for dealers, who in turn could order trailers from me as a wholesaler. I stored the products in a rented courtyard garage in Cologne-Sülz. The business model worked, and within a few years, Zwei plus zwei Marketing GmbH had grown from a one-man operation to a medium-sized wholesaler with over 40 employees.
The birth of Croozer
As the years went by, we began focusing on the strongest and most popular brands, and our product range became more and more consolidated. By 2003 we had begun selling primarily Chariot bike trailers and working with the then owners (two brothers from Canada) to further improve the product. With increasing market success came the desire to apply the knowledge we had gained through our many years of experience as a distributor and develop our own product line with producer responsibility to better serve the needs of the customers.
This desire led to the launch of our own brand, Croozer, in the summer of 2003. “Cruising” was a term I associated with the concepts of simplicity, companionship, everyday life and freedom, and I felt that it therefore perfectly captured the spirit of the brand. In no time at all, Croozer became one of Germany’s most popular bicycle trailers. I still feel amazed by the success.
From Zwei plus zwei GmbH to Croozer GmbH
When in 2011 the Thule Group acquired Chariot Carriers, Zwei plus zwei stopped distributing Thule (formerly Chariot) bicycle trailers. As a result, we were finally able to focus all our energy on the ongoing development of the Croozer brand, and within four years’ time we had already registered a number of patents. For me, Croozer is a promise of quality. The needs of our customers have been our top priority from day one. This is why I believe that the key to good product development is staying in contact with the people who use our products.
In 2016 we decided to strengthen the company’s identity by changing the company name to the brand name – which is why we are now known as Croozer GmbH.
Since then, we have been filling Europe’s streets with our bicycle trailers and working constantly and passionately on this great and – in my opinion – likeable brand that makes me proud every day. And after all this time, we still have big visions that inspire and motivate us!
Entirely new product portfolio – with new names!
I am very proud of the 2020 product portfolio, which we launched at the 2019 Eurobike. The Croozer Kids were given new features and a fresh look, two new models were added to the Cargo family, and exciting new accessories were developed for the Dog. Moreover, we took the big step of introducing a new naming system for our bicycle trailers: since then Vaaya, Keeke, Peppa, Jokke, Bruuno, Kalle, Pakko and Tuure have been populating the streets of Europe!
Croozer relocates - New work at its best
Croozer moved to a new location in Hürth (near Cologne) in March 2020. The open-space offices with several flexible workspaces were designed to facilitate a fun atmosphere with open exchange and interdisciplinary teamwork. You can learn more about our company structure and offices on the page “About us”.
More new stuff - Design relaunch 2021
At the start of 2021, Croozer rolled out a new look for itself. The numerous changes that had been made in the previous year inspired us to turn our attention to our logo and introduce a new design. We hope you like it as much as we do!
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