What’s the significance of the motto “Designed by parents – Made for parents”?
…Designed by parents – the motto’s routine for us. We employ parents to work and exchange ideas on how the products can be made better, more practical, more attractive and more affordable. Naturally it helps that our subsidiary Wehrfritz is next door and they are dealing with similar questions, namely how you can encourage, promote and delight children in the cradle, nursery, after-school care and school.

… Made for parents - by that we mean that we would rather convince the parents than the children. Because it’s up to parents to pass on their own values and aims onto their children and occasionally they are different from those of their children.However, we still definitely want to make products that appeal to children. The best educational toy is worth nothing if no one will play with it. On the whole it’s a very exciting environment. And moving things and changing things is an unbelievable amount of fun.

Who chooses the products that you see in the catalogue?
The final decision is made by sales, i.e. me and the product manager. We choose the things that “families” really need from a vast selection. When we're choosing we always keep something special in mind - children's toys with brains. Something that makes sense in terms of education, that encourages appropriate child development, that’s functional on a day-to-day basis and that will go the distance for long term use. We're always seeking to find a balance between longevity, the best function and a fair price.

How do you find new products?
In lots of ways. We visit lots of trade fairs, have good contacts with suppliers, “new” small companies come to us and present their products. We also get lots of tips from our customers and we actually find out a lot ourselves. If I have an issue with my children at home I discuss it with my buyers: “can you already get something like that? Or do we have to make it ourselves?” For instance after I had worn my daughter’s school bag for 2 hours”.

Nowadays do you still have contact with your customers?
Well yes, I get letters, e-mails and calls. On warm days in November we get - Christmas orders! - we're all allowed / we all have to use the telephones - so me too. It's always an experience to see how nice our customers are. I find all of the customer comments on the Internet really exciting. Our customers are really great and they give us really good feedback on our products, including their weak points.

Why is JAKO-O involved in the family lobby and holding the family congress?
We need to do something for families so that people start wanting to have children again. And so that families get the social and political recognition that they deserve! The family congress and our different actions were the logical conclusion of this recognition.

How is JAKO-O going to continue?
There is still any amount of areas where we would like to get involved. For example crèches and all day schools – what would that mean for Germany families? We want to offer more products for special children. We want to help so that the important job of “having children” becomes the best job in the world.