​EUROPEAN HOSPITALITY AT ITS FINEST

​By Moe Lastfogel
Director of Sales and Marketing for The Retail Observer

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Moe Lastfogel

In June of this year, I was invited on an amazing trip by one of our partners, Liehberr, to visit the factory in Austria where the new Monolith refrigerators are produced. This was a special visit, as it was also an incentive trip for their top retailers and distributers to attend. It all started off with breakfast in an open-air garden restaurant in Munich with sausage, pretzels and beer.

We headed to the site of the 1972 Olympics and were treated to a feast in the revolving restaurant in the Olympic Tower. The food was amazing and the view was breathtaking— bringing back memories of the events that took place there in 72’.
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We took an amazing scenic drive from Munich to Lienz through the Austrian Alps and to the Grandhotel Lienz ( My personal rating was 5 Stars. ) After a wonderful evening of drinks and dinner , I turned in early as the next morning was going to be a full day. We spent 6 hours learning about the various products that Liebherr manufactures in Lienz, their history, and a tour their amazing factory. After the training, we had an amazing dinner on a cliff in the Austrian Dolomites. Talk about a view (and truly a white-knuckle bus ride.) More sausage, pretzels, and beer, of course.

The next day we were taken on another scenic drive to Telfs Austria, home of the Liehberr Bulldozer factory. As you’ll read in this month’s main feature, Liebherr makes more than refrigerators. My only wish after seeing how they made these massive earth movers was that I could’ve taken one for a joy ride on the testing grounds!

The last few days were spent at the Liehberr Interalpen Hotel high in the Alps (I’d rate it 6 Stars if that existed). This was the most amazing hotel I have stayed in and puts all others I’ve seen to shame. We were treated like royalty; golf, spa treatments, incredible food, and amazing rooms and views. I think my favorite part was experiencing Mrs. Liehberr’s culinary expertise with our meal the last night there. A true Germanic meal and amazing hospitality.

Our last day was spent on the road back to Munich, a historical walk thru the famous city, a visit to the Hofbrauhaus, and an amazing dinner (and yes, there were sausage, pretzels and beer.)

I’ll remember this trip for the rest of my life. Thank you again to our hosts, and happy retailing.

Mit freundlichen Grüßen (Sincerely),
Moe Lastfogel
moe@retailobserver.com

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