What we don’t do
A letter to Vitsœ subscribers
Words: Mark Adams
Photography: Chris Parkes
Last summer I was asked by the brave CEO of a large manufacturing business to tell their board what Vitsœ does differently.
In answering, differently, I proceeded to tell them what Vitsœ does not do; and why it does not. I will spare you the length of my list but it included ‘no earning of commission when selling invisible shelves’; and no desire to add new products that create obsolete stock, so no need for seasonal sales. The positive response to our 'Sorry, no sale' signs in our shop windows is growing – after 15 years of repetition. (New observers have wondered if this is "a quiet flex"; we know it has been in our DNA for 66 years.)
You might have noticed our year-long print ad campaign … that, er, does not have product images. Each ad is a unique verbatim feedback email from a customer to one of my colleagues who has navigated them through the planning and buying process. In this chatbot/AI world we are emphasising the importance of relationships with human beings. Judged by our daily receipt of those emails – and your warm presence in our shops and on the end of our phones – we have a strong sense that the Vitsœ community agrees.
Meanwhile, we continue to resist the daily deluge of those who feel that we should buy their affections. We have never bought approval. If someone recommends Vitsœ to you, it is because they know us and trust us, not because we paid them. Furthermore, we continue to resist those who want Vitsœ to adopt third-party certification schemes, which are relatively easily manipulated (and therefore of hotly debated value).
October 2025 marked 40 years since I first installed a 606 system, for a customer in Marylebone, London, metres from our current Vitsœ shop. July 2025 marked 30 years since we transferred an ailing Vitsœ and its production from Germany to the UK. A journalist then told me that we would saturate the British market in about three years. Today we sell directly to customers in 90 countries.
30 years after his death, the charming Niels Vitsœ would, I think, be proud that we single-mindedly continue “to put our own inner house in order”. He would know that none of this can be justified without you, your friends or your family being at the heart of the Vitsœ community. Despite what we do not do, all we need is just a few more people to buy less from us.
Yours eternally optimistically
Mark Adams
