Chronicle
2000 onwards: internationalization and multi-channel
At the beginning of the new millennium, Weltbild stepped up its international business activities. In 2000, the media mail-order retailer Klub dla Ciebie, a partnership with the Hamburg-based Bauer Verlag, was launched in Poland. In 2003, Weltbild, together with the T-Online Venture Fund and Holtzbrinck networXs AG, took over the Dutch online media shop bol.com.
However, Weltbild continued its expansion in the German-speaking region as well. In 2001, it established the Living & More magazine publishing house and acquired KIDOH, a brand offering high-quality toys and educational products. Bayard Media GmbH, a publisher of magazines for the over-50s, was launched in 2004. The first Jokers branch opened in Munich in 2002. The Jokers.de Internet shop had been online since 2000.
In 2001, Weltbild opened its new logistics center in Augsburg. Three years later, the company headquarters in Augsburg were extended with the addition of a new office complex and the size of the logistics center was increased by around 70 per cent.
In 2004, Weltbild and the "Bild" newspaper brought the "Bild Bestseller Library" onto the market. More than five million copies of the 25-volume series were sold. The 250,000 copies of the "Volksbibel" (People’s Bible) from "Bild" and Weltbild were sold out within only three weeks of being published.
In 2006, the company merged its high-street business with that of the Hugendubel family. As a result, a new company was formed under the DBH Buch Handel umbrella. This alliance of established brands included the Hugendubel, Buch Habel, Weiland, Schmorl & von Seefeld, Wohlthat, Weltbild and Jokers brands. The 300th Weltbild branch opened in Schleswig.
In 2007, Weltbild.de expanded its range of services when it began offering music downloads and second-hand books. In addition, Weltbild customers now had the option of having any of the books, CDs and DVDs available online from the company’s range of 3 million products delivered free of charge to a Weltbild branch of their choice. Alternatively, all of the articles could be ordered in the company's branches.
In 2008, the approximately 330 branches of the Weltbild Plus bookshop chain began using the red Weltbild logo in keeping with the rest of the group. On 1 July 2008, Hugendubel and Weltbild took over the bookselling business in many Karstadt department stores. In 2008, Weltbild sells its range of magazines to the french publishing house Group Bayard (Paris). Weltbild achieves the award "Handelspreis 2008" (Hauptverband des Deutschen Einzelhandels HDE).
