Optiker Bode

generation, with 74 branches located in Hamburg, Bremen, Schleswig-Holstein, Niedersachsen, Berlin, Brandenburg, Nordrhein-Westfalen, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

In 1938, Optician Hans Bode founded an optical specialty store on Hamburger Straße in Hamburg-Barmbek. The store was destroyed during World War II, but it reopened in 1943 on Sachsentor in Bergedorf. A second branch was opened in 1946. In 1954, Hans Bode established the companies Hans Bode OHG and Optiker Bode OHG for the distribution of optical supplies. In 1968, his son, Hansgeorg Bode, joined the business and expanded the store into a chain with multiple branches.

In 1981, the family business, which had grown to nine branches, was sold to the American company Pearle Inc. from Texas. However, Pearle's attempt to establish a presence in Germany was unsuccessful. In late 1983, Hansgeorg Bode repurchased the family business and expanded the branch network to 28 branches by 1988. In 1996, Carsten Bode, the son of Hansgeorg and Birgit Bode, took over the family business as the managing partner. By 2000, Optik Bode employed 350 people in 69 branches, six of which were operated by franchisees. In 2014, the company had 450 employees in 74 branches. In 2011, Optiker Bode was recognized as the winner in a test conducted by Stiftung Warentest, a German consumer organization, among nine major eye optics chains, receiving the rating of "good." Optiker Bode continues to expand through the acquisition of other independent optician shops. The company's medium-term plan is to establish a network of around 100 branches. In March 2021, Optiker Bode was awarded the title of test winner with an overall rating of "very good" in an evaluation conducted by the German Institute for Service Quality.

In 1992, Bode acquired the acoustic company Axt Wendton, which operated 19 hearing aid specialty stores. The hearing aid division, with 27 branches and 110 employees, was sold to the Italian company Amplifon in 2005. In 2010, new specialized stores called Hörgeräte Bode were opened.

In 2006, the Bode family established a foundation for socially and financially disadvantaged children in the Hamburg metropolitan region. Ten percent of the company's profits are allocated to the foundation.