Leder & Schuh Kft. (Hungary)

Leder & Schuh Kereskedelmi Kft., located in Budapest, is a company that has a long history in the fashion industry. It was originally established as D.H. Pollak & Co in 1872 and quickly became a leader in fashion and one of the largest shoe producers in Central Europe. The company produced an impressive 20,000 pairs of shoes per week and had a network of quality shoe shops throughout the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Despite facing challenges during the First World War and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the company managed to survive and adapt. It focused on the Austrian market and traded as Humanic Leder und Schuh AG, Vienna-Graz. By 1930, it had already opened 60 stores and continued to expand. In the 1960s, the company began exporting its leather and shoe products to Western Europe and Scandinavia. It supplied over 3,000 shoe retailers throughout Europe and had a strong wholesaler network. In 1990, the company became a joint-stock company under the label Leder und Schuh. Humanic, a subsidiary company of Leder & Schuh Kereskedelmi Kft., initially only sold its shoes in Austria. However, in 1991, it expanded its reach and now has a network of stores in nine European countries, serving shoe lovers across the continent.