Otto GmbH & Co KG (doing business as Otto Group, stylized as otto group, formerly Otto Versand) is a German mail order company and one of the world's biggest e-commerce companies. Based in Hamburg, it operates in more than twenty countries. Otto is primarily a retail e-commerce company, and as a shareholder, it also operates in e-commerce services. The Otto group has expanded into real estate and financial services. In France, Otto claims to be the leading e-commerce business through 3 Suisses. In June 2013, Otto executed a full takeover to become its only shareholder. History The family of executive board chairman Michael Otto owns the majority of the company. The company is based in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded by Werner Otto in 1949. The first catalogue was hand produced offering twenty eight styles of shoes. During the 1950s, the product range business volume expanded. Otto introduced telephone orders in 1963, and launched an online shopping website in 1995. Michael Otto was the former owner of Spiegel, Inc., (the parent company of Eddie Bauer and the former owners of the catalogue Spiegel). It filed for bankruptcy on 17 March 2003. On 25 May 2005, Spiegel, Inc., emerged from bankruptcy renamed Eddie Bauer Holdings, and was primarily owned by Commerzbank. Subsidiaries Individual companies of the Otto Group: About You Alba Moda Baumarkt Direct Baur bonprix Venus Fashion Crate & Barrel EOS Frankonia Freemans Grattan Holdings Freemans Grattan Look Again Gifts365.co.uk Clearance365.co.uk Witt international UK Swimwear365.co.uk Curvissa bonprix UK Kaleidoscope/ Acquisition DiLusso.it Oli Hanseatic Bank (25%) Hanseatic Versicherungsdienst Hansecontrol Hansecontrol-Cert (49%) Heine Hermes Europe Hermes Parcel Services in Germany, Italy, Austria and Russia Hermes UK, rebranded as Evri (25%) Bombay Company Küche&Co Lascana Limango Manufactum Mirapodo MyToys.de (74.8%) Yomonda OFT OTTO OTTO Doosan Mail Order OTTO Group Russia OTTO Japan Eddie Bauer Japan OTTO Office (verkauft an Printus im Jahr 2015) Otto International Phi-t products & services (50%) RatePay Schwab Shopping24 Smatch.com 3 Suisses International Group Cofidis (49%) Venca Witt Weiden Witt-Group Witt International UK Fegro/Selgros References External links Suisses International Group Companies based in Hamburg Retail companies established in 1949 Mail-order retailers German brands Online retailers of Germany Otto family German companies established in 1949