HAIX - A HERO'S JOURNEY
Rudelzhausen: Founder Franz Xaver Haimerl, his brother Georg, and their father made shoes and boots together in their basement, working entirely by hand.
Mainburg: Franz Xaver Haimerl established HAIX under its original name, Haimerl. The company’s motto at the time was “A Haimerl shoe on every leg.” Later, Xaver Haimerl decided to combine the first letter of his forename with the first three letters of his surname, and today’s name was born.
Fun Fact:
The company was briefly called Haixa, but the name was soon shortened to HAIX.
1971
At the time of incorporation in the late 1940s, the company had eight employees. A little over two decades later, the team had already grown to 25.
1972
HAIX gained its first customers in the Netherlands. As Italian manufacturers entered the market, HAIX shoes were no longer competitively priced.
1974
After West Germany defeated the Dutch team in the FIFA World Cup, orders from the Netherlands stopped. The HAIX brand had to switch to contract manufacturing and disappeared from the market entirely.
1992
Ewald Haimerl took over the management of HAIX. Contract manufacturing orders declined rapidly at the time. The company had to make a decision: Build something new or shut up shop. Haimerl launched the FIRE FIGHTER, a true innovation: The first firefighter boot made from leather, engineered with GORE-TEX.
1994
HAIX’s first Interschutz appearance: Most stands were homemade, and the company shared a space with another exhibitor to save money.
1995
HAIX spent the next 20 years producing shafts in Saxony, working with the Eppendorfer Schuhfabrik in what used to be the GDR. This protected jobs in the area.
Product evolution: The FIRE FIGHTER gave way to the FIRE FLASH. More and more potential customers, including companies from the United States, inquired about HAIX shoes at INTERSCHUTZ. HAIX started working with Croatian suppliers to expand its capacity.
2002
United States: HAIX attended its first US trade fair – with two people: SALES FORCE 1.
2003
Lexington, Kentucky: HAIX opened its Kentucky site to strengthen its presence in the US market. Two decades later, the team had grown to 40 employees, raising the company’s profile across the US and Canada.
Mainburg: HAIX kept growing. A new administrative office was built at the headquarters in Mainburg. For the first time, HAIX’s appearance at INTERSCHUTZ in Leipzig was an enormous hit. As it launched the FIRE HERO, tens of thousands of visitors flocked to its stand.
Mala Subotica: A new factory opened in Mala Subotica. HAIX remained in charge of the production. The company also launched a training initiative in collaboration with the Croatian government: HAIX campaigned for the introduction of a dual apprenticeship system to boost the prospects of young people in a region lacking in infrastructure.
2013
HAIX’s European production sites manufactured 3,300 pairs of shoes every day, including the newly launched BLACK EAGLE Safety.
2015
Hanover: A long queue formed around the HAIX stand at INTERSCHUTZ as the new FIRE EAGLE attracted crowds of visitors. The HAIX flagship store opened in Hockenheim. The company reached many milestones in this year, as over a million pairs of shoes were produced in a single year for the first time and the number of employees exceeded 1,000.
2017
HAIX opened its logistics center in Mainburg, allowing it to deliver its products all over the world. The facility has a capacity of more than 320,000 pairs of shoes across 4,800 square meters.
Mainburg: HAIX World in Mainburg opened, and the CONNEXIS Safety – the first safety shoe that stimulates the fascia – was launched.
Managing Director Ewald Haimerl passed away suddenly, leaving the company reeling. Michael and Tanja Haimerl took over, becoming the third generation of the Haimerl family to run HAIX.
2020
HAIX merged with Wahler, a clothing manufacturer from Lower Bavaria, to boost its workwear segment.
The HAIX Tower 2.0 is the centerpiece of the Firefit Championships. It only takes a few minutes to erect the hydraulic tower, which is twelve meters tall. Two fixed staircases connect its three levels.
2022
INTERSCHUTZ finally returned after the pandemic, and the event was a roaring success. HAIX expanded its production capacity further, as the new Serbian factory began to make shafts.
