Have you ever wanted to get your grandmother's kerosene lamp to light up again and failed due to a lack of spare parts?? Do you still have the terse “There isn’t!' in the seller's ear, when you asked for a special plane or demanded a single screw? Then you are at Chr. Weimeister correct.
The frugal, but still adequately lit sales room is filled with goods of all kinds. Holz- and rubber mallet, Petroleum Lamps, Saws and whistles dangle from the ceiling. In, before, on the counter and on shelves: screwdriver, chisel, pocket knife, Castles, key, Planer, light bulbs, Two of us, pliers, measuring tapes, Saws, thermos bottles, wrench, Ship models and infinitely more – a chaos, as it says in the book. At first glance. At second, a subtle order reveals itself.
Lord of the orderly mess of about 19000 Articles is Andreas Dörflein. With a small team he leads Christian Weimeister's "Eisenkrämerei", this institution on Hamburg's banks of the Elbe near the St.-Pauli-Landungsbrücken. As if he was there, tells Dorflein: „If ,Krischan' Weimeister his company 1908 founded, the old Elbe tunnel was just being built. He sold a lot of hardware and tools there. Otherwise one was on ship- and fishing supplies specialized. From the position lamp to the smoker, there was everything here, until the 1970s even household goods.” Weimeister is still a ship chandler for several shipping companies today. Clever streamlining of the range and specialization characterize the history of the business. When it comes to tools, the focus today is on woodworking. Saws, chisel, Klüpfel, axes, carving knife, The "Eisenkrämerei" offers planes and scrapers in almost endless variations. Cautious changes and clear demarcations - no power tools - are still working successfully today.
Claus Albers has been part of the team for two years: „Ich
would like to stay here until retirement. The customers are nice, and I also have a lot of fun with the range as a seller.”
For ten years now, a catalog has also given non-Hamburgers an insight into the range of goods. Orders from all over Germany and abroad end up at Ursula Jessel. Together with her mother Hildegard, she puts together the parcels and parcels for shipping.
Christian Weimeister's “Eisenkrämerei” has long been available on the Internet. “Such innovations must be, one must not close oneself off from them", says Andreas Dörflein.
Even when it comes to supposedly untimely things, is the magic word "Weimeister". “Last year there was a veritable boom in floor brooms. Because the floorboards in old buildings are increasingly being sanded down and left without carpet, floor brooms were suddenly in demand again. We were able to offer them.” Dörflein is happy. This makes that special feature clear, that characterizes the "Eisenkrämerei" to this day: Service. Customer service was already practiced here, before there was even a word for it. "I'm still having as much fun today as I was before 20 years", says Andreas Dörflein, and you can see it, that he sees every customer question as a challenge. “Of course, screws are also available from us individually and what is not in stock, will be procured as soon as possible. A ,We don't have it.' We don't have it."
This also applies to kerosene lamps. This specialty of the house is visibly homaged to in many places. Models from well-known manufacturers in classic and modern forms, of course in all sizes and including accessories, leave nothing to be desired. In addition to expert advice, hobbyists also get a wide range of replacements- and wearing parts.
But at Weimeister, it's not just the abundance of goods that captivates, consulting- and service quality. Which since 1930 almost unchanged shop fittings exude a very special charm, especially the dark brown wall from almost 600 Drawers. They are a veritable treasure trove for countless small parts. Hinges and angles of all sizes, furniture fittings, Crochet all Art, ventilation panels – From the tip of a walking stick to a hole punch, there is more to discover here than any treasure hunter would have thought possible. Andreas Dörflein first came into the business as a child with his father, who worked in the port. The little boy could barely see over the counter, but was immediately fascinated and captured by the special atmosphere. Later, when he was a schoolboy, he spent days counting screws during many an inventory. Under the boss Maria Brüning, a born Wei-meister, and her husband Jens began 1983 his apprenticeship.
In all the years in the shop, Andreas Dörflein has not only explored every drawer down to the last corner, Were, Getting to know customers and suppliers, but above all the special spirit of the house. No customer request is too small and hardly any effort too big. So it's not surprising, that Andreas Dörflein 1992 became managing director after the early death of junior manager Klaus Brüning. Although in April 2002 the last Weimeister of this line died with Maria Brüning, the spirit of the founder is still alive. Because you still hear customers say: „Schön, that you will never be disappointed at Weimeister.”