Gabriel_175th Anniversary_Web_Spreads - Flipbook - Page 26
T H E S T R AT E G I S T S
2001-2026:
The discipline of
seeing potential
If you follow the thread of Gabriel’s journey from a water-powered mill
in Aalborg to a global textile innovator, one strategic idea stands out
above all others: the company globalised through sales. Not through
factories, not through product distribution, not through acquisitions,
but through sales-driven globalisation - an intentional shift toward
understanding, influencing and shaping markets from the customer’s
side. It was this shift, combined with a deep instinct for seeing potential, that transformed Gabriel between 2001 and 2026. The leadership
team, Anders and Claus, put it simply, interweaving their sentences:
“We always look
for potential”
“We always look for potential”- and “We have to create the growth
ourselves.” These two principles became the backbone of a company
that refused to let its physical location define its strategic relevance.
Gabriel’s history begins with a similar instinct. When the founders built
the first textile mill at Kjærs Mølle in 1851, they chose the site not for
beauty, but for opportunity. The river offered energy. The region offered skills. Customers were close enough for the business to sustain
itself. Gabriel was, from its first moment, shaped by a clear-eyed understanding of context and potential. More than a century later, the
same instinct resurfaced as the global furniture industry shifted its
centre of gravity. Decisions were no longer made in Denmark alone
nor by the industry customers. Projects were conceived in London, Milan, Paris, New York, and Shanghai. If Gabriel remained anchored in
Aalborg and expected the world to come, it risked becoming irrelevant in the very industry it served.
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