At 21 he acquired the degree "Meister" butcher and took over the parental butcher's shop. In 1975 he built his first drug store in Kirchheim unter Teck. Two years later there were already more than 100 stores. As of 2003, there were more than 13,000 stores across Europe, employing about 50,000 people and generating revenue of about 6.55 billion euros.