Fredy Bayard übernahm als Textilkaufmann 1987 das Modehaus Bayard von seinen Eltern und entwickelte es gemeinsam mit seiner Frau Silvia Bayard zum führenden Modeunternehmen im Wallis. Fusionen und die Übernahme lokal etablierter Textilhändler führten zu einer raschen Expansion. Im Jahr 2008 übernahmen die beiden die Anteile der Loeb-Gruppe und waren damit alleinige Inhaber der «Mode Bayard Group». 2017 übertrugen sie ihre Aktien-Mehrheit an die leitenden Mitarbeitenden des Unternehmens, um so das Generationenmanagement sicherzustellen. Silvia Bayard baute den gesamten Vertrieb und das Personalwesen des Unternehmens auf und leitete diese Bereiche bis 2016. Seit 2017 ist sie CEO der Mode Bayard Group. Fredy Bayard hat das Unternehmen 2017 verlassen und ist heute erfolgreicher Medienunternehmer bei der Walliser Mediengruppe «Mengis» und dem Bieler Medienhaus «Gassmann».
2022
Fredy Bayard took over his parents' fashion house in 1987 and, together with his wife Silvia Bayard, built it up into the leading fashion company in Valais within a few years. At the SEF, the couple spoke to presenter Urs Gredig about their life as an entrepreneurial duo. According to Fredy Bayard, the fact that they always had 150 per cent trust in each other, but still looked after clearly separate areas, contributed decisively to the success of the "Mode Bayard Group", which is now present throughout Switzerland.
Interestingly, Bayard ran a web shop for ten years, but discontinued it last year. "It was never a profitable business," Silvia Bayard explained the decision. On the web, she said, the focus is on the goods. "But Bayard's strength is to put the customers at the centre." Possibly that is why the online business did not work for them.
In 2017, Fredy left the fashion company and ventured into something new once again: he has since become a successful media entrepreneur and publisher of Pomona Media & Gassmann. No, he did not have a midlife crisis, said his wife Silvia at the SEF in response to a question to that effect. "I have always been interested in entrepreneurship, but not so much in the fashion industry. My wife and our management team did so well that at some point I felt quite superfluous," Fredy explained his exit with a wink.
