Many thanks to all friends and customer: ck-modelcars is 15!

It was May 14th, 2004, when Christoph Krombach launched the modelcar shipping ck-modelcars in the Hessian Aßlar. No, it had not been the proverbial garage, in which a business idea has developed from the hobby: It was the freezer of his mother in a boxroom, on which the first miniatures were sent. Although it was not a car, but a showcase, which left the small town in the district of Gießen to a collector. Today is CK - as the fans call the dealer - the second largest consignor of Europe and delivers even beyond its borders into the whole world. Which started so small, experienced the provisional climax with last month's move to the new hall (above). We ask Christoph Krombach, the company founder and probably the biggest fan of modelcars ever who has browsed for the birthday of the company in old photos.

But first the key facts in a short summary: The modelcar retailer ck-modelcars holds about 8,000 different miniatures ready for the collectors. However, the number is constantly growin, because manufacturers such as Minichamps and Spark are constantly finding new niches; Role models, often from years back decades, find their implementation in the model. Racing cars, for example, are of a quality that their drivers would never have dreamed of. Every year, the company hands over about 80,000 orders to the shipping partner DHL / Deutsche Post, although the number of vehicles is constantly increasing. The CK team is shipping six days a week - immediatley at the day of the received payment - and is open from 8:00 am to 7:00 pm Tuesday through Friday and reachable for the customber from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm on Monday and Saturday.

And to ensure that this works even better in the future than it already does, it has been moved into the new headquarters. Christoph Krombach: "With the move to the new hall, we not only wanted to respond better to the constantly growing supply of manufacturers, but also to improve our structure. Our goal is to further accelerate shipping and service to our customers!" Better structures always creates free space and the CK team uses it above all for freeing up more creativity: "We exclusively have made special models in limited editions for our customers. So we are always able to offer limited editions of e.g. Porsche models that are only available and can only be brought from us. They become rare and never-returning collectors' items, which are very popular!"

However, the fact that the offer is getting bigger is partly due to the fact that ck-modelcars turns to small, emerging labels and - successfully - endeavors to open up a firm circle of customers to the new providers. "We are not only there for our customers via the Internet, but we are also looking forward to a personal visit: Since October 2013, we run two stores in Germany: These can be found in the Classic Remise Berlin classic car centers as well as in the Klassikstadt of Frankfurt", complements Krombach. Just last weekend, the oldtimer days Berlin-Brandenburg took place in Berlin, to which the fans were provided live on the in-house Twitter and Instagram accounts with numerous pictures of the event. CK has taken a step closer to the customer not only on the net, but also in motorsports.

The partnership with the Team75 Motorsport of the two-time endurance world champion Timo Bernhard in the context of the ADAC GT Masters is entering its second year this year. Exclusive modelcars of the Porsche 911 of the team Iron Force Racing were the top sellers at the season opening in Oschersleben. Available in the CK-Trailer, in which the most important models on the subject of motorsport were brought to the racetrack and will be in the future: Next time at the 24 hours at the Nürburgring in the Ringboulevard from June 20th to 23rd, 2019. Which leads us to take a look into the photo album: The first outdoor appearance with a stall at the racetrack, which took place at the 2011 Grand Prix of Belgium; The first fair appearance was to celebrate on the occasion of the Motor Show Essen in November of the same year.

Thanks and a promise

Christoph Krombach had started ck-modelcars not only because of his hobby, the modelcars, but also because of the interest in E-Commerce. But the name of the company went through several steps of evolution, before he arrived at the current company name. Also the first flyers have looked different than the newsletters today: Some pieces from the early days, we have included side by side. Without picture, but still present is the freezer mentioned above; with all its streaks and scratches from the first days of shipping. Once again Christoph Krombach: "No one would have expected what would come out of it. We thank all our friends, partners and customers and we promise to continue to provide optimal service! We look forward to the next 15 years!"