“A bit special”: Socks have been her business for 33 years – from classic to colourful patterned socks
The Schwaller-Zurlinden couple run the sock shop “Zurli Socken” in Bellach. What once began as a market stall is now the Swiss online shop with the largest selection of socks of all kinds.
Manfred and Jacqueline Schwaller-Zurlinden are proud of their success.
Manfred and Jacqueline Schwaller-Zurlinden have been running the “Zurli Socks” business in Bellach for 33 years. What began as a small market idea has developed into the largest online sock shop in Switzerland: “This job is a bit special,” they say in unison.
The Schwaller-Zurlinden couple works downstairs and lives upstairs.
The couple leads us through their large sock warehouse in Bellach: the managers sell over 200 different types of socks – from bamboo socks to health socks to funny socks with motifs.
They pack and ship all orders themselves. They order the socks from suppliers in Germany.
Socks with a camping motif are very popular with Zurli customers.
The sock warehouse above which the couple lives also gives an insight into their hobbies: they go on holiday together with their trailer and Manfred Schwaller-Zurlinden enjoys riding his racing bike.
The couple’s hobbies, such as their caravan and racing bike, can also be seen among all the boxes.
The name "Zurli Socken" comes from the name "Zurlinden": "At school they called me 'Zurli', that was my nickname," says Jacqueline Schwaller-Zurlinden. Her father sold socks at trade fairs at the time. One day his son-in-law Manfred Schwaller-Zurlinden helped him out.
He was so enthusiastic that he wanted to get into the sock business himself. So he and his wife founded their own business - Zurli Socken: "In 1991 we opened our first store in Grenchen," they remember.
"I was previously a car painter and my wife worked in an office, but we were hooked," says Manfred Schwaller-Zurlinden. The two are proud of what they have built together and have been running for so many years.
Socks of all kinds are in the warehouse: Manfred Schwaller-Zurlinden in his profession.
"When we started, there were only tennis socks, thin cotton socks and children's socks," remembers Jacqueline Schwaller-Zurlinden. But during the Corona pandemic, the couple experienced a sock trend and the patterned socks became popular: "This could be because there are now sneakers that the socks have to match and because of the Internet, which may have fueled the trend," she continues.
Socks with football, beer or camping motifs are very popular with Zurli customers. Manfred Schwaller-Zurlinden prefers bamboo socks, however: "Bamboo is particularly breathable and therefore you don't sweat or freeze in them."
Bestsellers are the classic bamboo socks, even with the Zurli logo.
"We used to be represented at large trade fairs such as the HESO or the BEA, but the effort is now too great and the space too expensive." Instead, the couple is now concentrating on their online shop and on fairs in Solothurn, Aargau, Basel and the Bernese Oberland.
The couple fondly remembers when they still did their bulk shopping at markets rather than in department stores: "With online business, personal customer contact is lost - that's a shame," says Manfred Schwaller-Zurlinden, and his wife adds: "Today everything is much faster."
In the warehouse, the couple packs all parcels that are ordered online themselves.
At that time, they also sold Zurli socks in Valais: "The customers came down from the mountains to the market in their traditional costumes and with backpacks and bought socks for themselves and their families," says Manfred Schwaller-Zurlinden, "that was fun."
According to the managing directors, the main season for socks begins in September and lasts until April: "When I go to the market, I leave between four and five in the morning with the trailer attached to my car and come home by nine in the evening at the latest," says Manfred Schwaller-Zurlinden.
Zurli socks are present in many markets, including Solothurn.
After 33 years, the couple is slowly thinking about their future after their working lives: "The successor for Zurli socks has not yet been decided. Our daughter has chosen a different career path that she likes." Nevertheless, the Schwaller-Zurlindens will not stop giving a pair of socks with every gift, whether on birthdays or at Christmas.