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Fürth / Göppingen (dpa) - The model railway manufacturer Märklin recorded an order boom last Christmas business.
Compared to the end of the previous year, the order backlog in the books at the end of December 2020 was 40 percent higher, and in November even 75 percent, said managing partner Florian Sieber at the press conference of the Märklin owner Simba Dickie Group in Fürth.
"Many Märklin fans spent significantly more time with their hobby in 2020, and others discovered a new hobby for themselves," he emphasized.
In addition, increased marketing activities could be partly responsible for the order leap.
For the 2020/2021 financial year, plans are currently being made to "slightly" exceed the previous year's sales figures of 112 million euros.
However, this is difficult to assess due to the ongoing lockdown with the closure of the toy shops.
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Märklin is also relying on the pulling power of its newly created Märklineum museum at its headquarters in Göppingen.
The exhibition in the style of a roundhouse has been completed and will be opened as soon as the pandemic situation allows.
Märklin is part of the Fürth-based Simba Dickie Group, which in the past financial year had a turnover of 715 million euros with all kinds of toys and licensing rights - 1.8 percent more than in the previous year.
The group with almost 3000 employees includes the Bobby cars of the Big brand.
There was growth in Germany and the USA in particular.
In other markets, different lockdowns would have hindered sales, said Sieber.
In particular, online retail and the better-known branded products developed positively.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210122-99-127320 / 2
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