{"id":453,"date":"2026-08-18T12:57:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T10:57:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/?page_id=453"},"modified":"2026-08-18T14:24:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T12:24:46","slug":"republicain-lorrain-2026-07-25","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/en\/republicain-lorrain-2026-07-25\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I never imagined I\u2019d build an empire\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

On Thursday 23 July, Martin Michaeli, founder of the Mephisto brand, celebrated his 90th birthday with the nearly 400 employees at his historic factory in Sarrebourg.
From his early days as a leather cutter to being named Entrepreneur of the Year in 1999, he has built an empire in leaps and bounds.<\/p>\nPublished in “Le R\u00e9publicain Lorrain” – July 25, 2026<\/strong><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>
\n

At the age of 90, Martin Michaeli is still involved in the company. He designed the wave that adorns the sole of the new collection of running shoes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Photo: Laurent Mami<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

Your father ran a shoe shop in Saarbr\u00fccken, your home town. Did you always dream of taking over the business from him?
<\/strong>\u201cI don\u2019t remember what I wanted to do as a child. It was the war. The Allies were bombing the factories in Saarbr\u00fccken. I wasn\u2019t going to school any more; my father had been called up despite his age, and we were just living from day to day. We\u2019d hidden several pairs of shoes under the roof tiles of our house. I was the only one small enough to fetch them. I\u2019d go and swap them for fruit and food. My father, who was taken prisoner in Normandy, didn\u2019t return until two years after the war. I hadn\u2019t really had the chance to think about my future. Taking over the shop seemed the obvious choice. So I went off to learn the trade at the Institute of Footwear in Pirmasens.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But you didn\u2019t return to the Saar. At the age of 21, you set off for America.
<\/strong>\u201cI set off for the United States with a small cardboard suitcase. Which, incidentally, I still have. Without a penny to my name and knowing just a few words of English. I hadn\u2019t realised that over there, the majority of the textile and footwear industries were run by Jews. As a German, I wondered how I would be received. But in America, if you\u2019re a hard worker and know your trade, you\u2019re respected, whatever your background. I spent six incredible years there. I learnt English; I went from being a leather cutter to a pattern-maker, and I quickly climbed the ranks. I didn\u2019t want to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So why did you return to Europe?
<\/strong>\u201cMy student visa was about to expire, and the immigration authorities thought it was odd that a student was earning such a good living. My boss and friend wrote a petition to the US government entitled \u2018If we let Michaeli go, it will be a huge economic loss for the country\u2019. He was exaggerating a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not really. Because you immediately set up your own factory.
<\/strong>\u201cYes, thanks to the money I\u2019d saved up during those years in the United States. I wanted to create my own brand of shoes. I was 25, but I looked 18. People thought I was mad and gave me three weeks before I\u2019d go under. I\u2019d chosen to set up in Dalhunden, in Alsace. Big mistake. The factory was far too close to the German border, and as wages were better across the Rhine, I struggled to retain my staff. I was working day and night, but I decided to take one day a week to visit Lorraine and find another location. I chose Sarrebourg because people there spoke both German and French equally well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So it was 1965. How was your project received in Sarrebourg?
<\/strong>\u201cVery well. I\u2019d spotted some old military barracks with their small, high-up windows. The mayor at the time had them cleared of all the clutter so that we could set up shop with about twenty workers. It was very basic, but we were producing between 80 and 100 pairs a day. Two years later, we had fifty workers, 40 home-based workers, and we were producing 420 pairs a day. We needed to build a factory to take things up a gear. It was built in 1969 and, once again, the new mayor, Pierre Messmer, supported us. He even organised the transport of our machinery back via a military convoy!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The workshop grew into a factory, then into an empire with two manufacturing sites \u2013 in Sarrebourg and Portugal \u2013 2,100 employees, three brands derived from the iconic Mephisto, 16,000 pairs of shoes produced every day, and 18,000 retail outlets worldwide\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Was that your aim from the outset?
<\/strong>\u201cI never set out to build an empire, but I\u2019ve always dreamed big. I just wanted to produce the best pair of shoes in the world. And I still hope to achieve that with the next collection. Because there\u2019s always room for improvement.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have handed over the reins of the company to your children, Marc and St\u00e9phanie. It is a heavy legacy.
<\/strong>\u201cAll the more so against the backdrop of a crisis in the textile and footwear industry. Since 1965, we have seen a great many factories close down. I believe that if Mephisto has stood the test of time, it is because it has never compromised on its quality standards. We haven\u2019t outsourced production to low-cost countries. Our employees\u2019 expertise is our greatest asset, and we\u2019re proud to be able to display \u2018Made in France\u2019 or \u2018Made in Portugal\u2019 on our boxes. Our customers know that when you buy a pair of Mephistos, you\u2019ll still have them 10 years later. We\u2019re the antithesis of fast fashion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interview by St\u00e9phanie Paquet<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n
\n

MARTIN MICHAELI – A success story<\/a><\/h1><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u00a9 Copyright 2026 Martin Michaeli | Alle Rechte vorbehalten<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Thursday 23 July, Martin Michaeli, founder of the Mephisto brand, celebrated his 90th birthday with the nearly 400 employees at his historic factory in Sarrebourg.From his early days as a leather cutter to being named Entrepreneur of the Year in 1999, he has built an empire in leaps and bounds. Published in “Le R\u00e9publicain […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-453","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.5","language":"en","enabled_languages":["de","fr","en"],"languages":{"de":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"fr":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"en":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false}}},"yoast_head":"\n\u2018I never imagined I\u2019d build an empire\u2019 - MARTIN MICHAELI - A success story<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/republicain-lorrain-2026-07-25\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018I never imagined I\u2019d build an empire\u2019 - MARTIN MICHAELI - A success story\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/republicain-lorrain-2026-07-25\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MARTIN MICHAELI - A success story\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-18T12:24:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/M_MICHAELI_4-Photo-Seule.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"805\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/martinmichaeli.com\\\/republicain-lorrain-2026-07-25\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/martinmichaeli.com\\\/republicain-lorrain-2026-07-25\\\/\",\"name\":\"\u2018I never imagined I\u2019d build an empire\u2019 - MARTIN MICHAELI - A success story\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/martinmichaeli.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/martinmichaeli.com\\\/republicain-lorrain-2026-07-25\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/martinmichaeli.com\\\/republicain-lorrain-2026-07-25\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/martinmichaeli.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/M_MICHAELI_4-Photo-Seule-1024x687.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-18T10:57:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-18T12:24:46+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/martinmichaeli.com\\\/republicain-lorrain-2026-07-25\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/martinmichaeli.com\\\/republicain-lorrain-2026-07-25\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/martinmichaeli.com\\\/republicain-lorrain-2026-07-25\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/martinmichaeli.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/M_MICHAELI_4-Photo-Seule-1024x687.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/martinmichaeli.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/M_MICHAELI_4-Photo-Seule-1024x687.png\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/martinmichaeli.com\\\/republicain-lorrain-2026-07-25\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/martinmichaeli.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u201eIch h\u00e4tte mir nie vorstellen k\u00f6nnen, ein Imperium aufzubauen\u201c\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/martinmichaeli.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/martinmichaeli.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"MARTIN MICHAELI - A success story\",\"description\":\"Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur, Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite, Entrepreneur of the Year \",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/martinmichaeli.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u2018I never imagined I\u2019d build an empire\u2019 - MARTIN MICHAELI - A success story","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/republicain-lorrain-2026-07-25\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u2018I never imagined I\u2019d build an empire\u2019 - MARTIN MICHAELI - A success story","og_url":"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/republicain-lorrain-2026-07-25\/","og_site_name":"MARTIN MICHAELI - A success story","article_modified_time":"2026-08-18T12:24:46+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":805,"url":"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/M_MICHAELI_4-Photo-Seule.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/republicain-lorrain-2026-07-25\/","url":"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/republicain-lorrain-2026-07-25\/","name":"\u2018I never imagined I\u2019d build an empire\u2019 - MARTIN MICHAELI - A success story","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/republicain-lorrain-2026-07-25\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/republicain-lorrain-2026-07-25\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/M_MICHAELI_4-Photo-Seule-1024x687.png","datePublished":"2026-08-18T10:57:24+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-18T12:24:46+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/republicain-lorrain-2026-07-25\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/republicain-lorrain-2026-07-25\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/republicain-lorrain-2026-07-25\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/M_MICHAELI_4-Photo-Seule-1024x687.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/M_MICHAELI_4-Photo-Seule-1024x687.png"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/republicain-lorrain-2026-07-25\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u201eIch h\u00e4tte mir nie vorstellen k\u00f6nnen, ein Imperium aufzubauen\u201c"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/","name":"MARTIN MICHAELI - A success story","description":"Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur, Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Mérite, Entrepreneur of the Year ","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=453"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":491,"href":"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/453\/revisions\/491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/martinmichaeli.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}