About us - Interview with founder Kai Rixrath
You have often used McParking yourself and have seen how we have developed over the years. This part of our series is a short interview with founder and businessman Kai Rixrath.
Kai, you founded McParking over 20 years ago. Did you always intend to do this or was it more of a coincidence?
The idea of offering affordable and secure parking spaces close to the airport developed during our "Tegel time". I ran a driving range on Kurt-Schumacher-Damm near the airport at the time. There you could learn to play golf on a simple course relatively close to the city centre. Our customers booked a time slot and could then practise their tee shots. We took care of the tedious task of collecting balls so that you could hit a lot of balls in a short space of time. And you didn't even have to travel to the Brandenburg region to do it. At some point, a customer asked me if he could leave his car a little longer. He wanted to walk the short distance to Tegel Airport and come back after two days. I then took the customer to the airport myself and we got chatting. He liked the opportunity to park so close to the airport and wanted to do it again. As a result, other golf customers came to us and wanted to park - some of them without playing first. I then reduced the size of the golf course to create more space for parked cars. The whole thing was like a snowball system and word got around more and more. Eventually, I gave up the golf course completely in favour of the car park and we operated an area for around 2,000 cars - about as many as the airport itself could offer on its site. At the same time as converting the site, we also took care of the bookability, of course, so we built a functional back and front end. However, this would not have been possible without an energetic team.
Why did you run a golf course at all back then? How did it come about?
I used to do a lot of sport. I was a ski instructor in Austria in winter and a golf instructor in summer. I had a lot of fun playing golf and even before I started running the driving range, I was able to earn good money from it. But at some point I reached a point where my entrepreneurial spirit told me that I needed to do more with my passion than just help individual players improve their handicap. And then, by chance, I came across the site on Kurt-Schumacher-Damm, which I was able to rent on a favourable long-term basis.
When the airport car park became more and more in demand, you reorientated yourself. How did you come up with the name McParking?
At Tegel Airport, I actually wanted to call the company something else. I had thought of Airport Parking Berlin, for example. Unfortunately, I then found out that exactly this combination was already occupied by a competitor. So I went to McDonald's to eat my frustration away - of course that's where the idea of McParking came from. However, it was still a difficult road to the introduction of the complete "McParking" brand; we even had to fend off a lawsuit from McDonald's, which we succeeded in doing. I think the effort was worth it, because McParking is very universally applicable. Incidentally, we have registered McParking as a brand not only in Germany, but also throughout the EU and in many other countries outside Europe, e.g. in India, Singapore and Australia. In Chile and Argentina, we also have McParking locations in the respective capital cities. These are developing very well.
That really is an exciting story. But you weren't always in Berlin. What did you do before you came here, where did you grow up?
I was born almost 56 years ago in Guayaquil, Ecuador. My father is German and was working there at the time as Head of South America for Bayer/Schering. He met my mother there, who is Ecuadorian, so I grew up in Ecuador, Peru and finally in Argentina. I feel at least half South American - and very much at home as such. I came to Germany to train as a banker and then to study economics, and finally stayed in Berlin. Even though I miss South America and especially Argentina very much, especially in the grey Berlin winter, I really appreciate life here.
McParking is not your only mainstay. You have a broad base, and not just since the coronavirus pandemic, and as a prudent entrepreneur you are not only active in the car park sector.
Exactly, McParking has suffered greatly during the coronavirus years. Our business is very much linked to passenger numbers - if a lot of passengers fly, not only are the airlines and airports doing well economically, but so are we. That wasn't the case during coronavirus. That's why my goal has always been to have more than just one leg to stand on. In addition to the parking business, I also focus on property and project development. This is not so far removed from parking in terms of content, because an essential prerequisite for a stable parking business is to have a parking area - i.e. a property, whether with or without a multi-storey car park - in the right location/near the airport. However, I am also active in the development of residential buildings, which is currently in high demand. In addition, I am involved in an IT & marketing start-up and a go-kart track in Denmark, for example. In short, there are many different projects that interest me.
Corona, war, price increases - within a very short space of time, these are developments that would cause worry lines on anyone's forehead. Why don't you describe the current economic situation from an entrepreneur's perspective ..
We shouldn't make everything worse than it is. The war in Ukraine is bad for those directly affected and - as everyone knows - it has an impact on the global economy. But the economic situation in Germany is better than is often portrayed. Germany's GDP is expected to be reasonably stable this year, after a minus was expected at the end of 2022. Although the energy crisis is leading to significantly higher energy prices, it can also be seen here that prices soared after the outbreak of the war, but have now levelled off again at a slightly lower level due to lower consumption and diversified supply sources. Inflation is also expected to remain below last year's peak at around 6% this year and is even expected to return to a level of around 2% in 2024, i.e. within an acceptable range.
... and what options for action arise from this.
One thing above all: don't panic. It is important to keep a clear head and maintain liquidity reserves wherever possible. We saw this during the coronavirus pandemic. Those who were sufficiently liquid got through this crazy time reasonably well. And those who can afford it now should use the difficult economic phase for investments. This may sound paradoxical, but you can currently benefit from falling construction and property prices, for example.
Let's get back to you personally. What do you do to switch off from business? What can you recommend?
As an entrepreneur, I'm actually always on the go. When I do want to switch off, I still enjoy playing golf. Even if, or perhaps because, the ambition is no longer as strong as it used to be, the mixture of fresh air, nature and physical exercise relaxes me.
Last but not least, the question that comes to mind with McParking: Where do you prefer to spend your holidays?
I try to fly to my family in Argentina as often as I can. I can see them and long-time friends there and enjoy the relaxed South American lifestyle at the same time. Of course, the trip is quite expensive, so I also like travelling to Mallorca for a shorter period of time. Thanks to my mother tongue Spanish and a nice little circle of friends with whom I enjoy spending time, I also feel very much at home there.