Play mats "Made in Chemnitz"

Ronny Graupner

Play mats - "Made in Chemnitz": Ronny Graupner's product could undoubtedly be labelled with this statement. For almost a year now, the 32-year-old has been producing play mats for children that are not yet available on the market. His four-year-old daughter has played a large part in his second mainstay. The freelance web designer has a lot planned for his new company in the coming months. But one thing will remain the same: Made in Chemnitz.

How did you come up with the idea of producing these mats?
Ronny Graupner: My partner and I gave our daughter a farm as a present. After unpacking and assembling it, we placed it on a small, white table. But somehow it looked very strange and sad. It had little in common with the colourful pictures on the packaging.
Occupational illness - I thought about how I could make it look nicer and used a graphics programme to design a green meadow on A4 and printed it out. My little daughter loved it and played with it straight away. Then I extended the design: I added a mud patch and a pond. My daughter also incorporated these pictures into her game straight away.
This gave rise to the idea of designing such surfaces. The research that followed was intensive: does such a thing already exist? Apart from a few stickers, classic play mats or colourful foam mats, I couldn't find anything else. The mats shouldn't stick to furniture, but still have to be non-slip and stow away to save space, etc.

But it's still a long way from the mere idea to realisation?
I found someone on the Internet who makes a kind of mat for Yugioh card players himself. After the first email contact, he just said that he would come round for a short visit. Then we could have a better chat. My office was still on Carolastrasse at the time. I waited for him, somewhat surprised, and less than ten minutes later he was there, his workshop was only a short walk away. The product he had with him was exactly what I had in mind. It had a rubber layer and doesn't slip, you can put anything on it and print any design on it. He was also able to make customised sizes. That's how the idea of making it 55 x 55 cm - exactly the dimensions of this small table - came about.
Together with him, we developed a prototype that was tested with family and friends. The response was consistently positive. This encouraged us to push ahead with it. We are now business partners with playmatt.

What are the advantages of your mats?
You can wash them in the washing machine without damaging anything.
The mats can be combined with each other - they fit together so that the kids can create a large play world. They are robust and, as already mentioned, the rubber layer prevents them from slipping. The mats are also free from harmful substances. You can play with all the figures on them. This encourages children's creativity.

Ronny Graupner launched his online shop in November 2016. And without doing much advertising, he has now sold 150 to 200 mats. "Now, of course, we want to make the product better known, we are travelling to trade fairs and talking to larger customers." The mats are currently only available to buy from a toy shop on Sachsenallee and in Dresden's Altmarktgalerie. "They were so enthusiastic about the idea and the product that they added it to their range. We have discovered a gap in the market that we hope will reach many children and parents. More shops are to follow. "It would be a major win for us if our mats were sold throughout Germany. But organic growth takes time. And we're taking our time," says Graupner.

Where are the mats produced? Is it printed?
The raw material is natural rubber, the only ingredient we have to import. I'm not aware of any place in Germany where such a tree grows from which natural rubber can be extracted (laughs). We have everything else in stock here.

Where do the ideas for the motifs come from?
Our illustrator designs the motifs. That works really well. We now have various images. Standard mats with landscape, street, sea, but also exclusive mats, for example with an ice world. This is currently being expanded. In the future, we want to produce fluorescent mats, for example, in collaboration with a research institute. But this is still in the test phase. We have a space mat - maybe we can make it with fluorescent colours. That would be great if it lit up.

In the meantime, users can design their own mats on the Internet?
Yes, people can design their own mats online with the help of our Playmat Designer: Select a basic colour or element, such as water, grass or rocks, and create a unique piece with additional elements. We are currently in the test phase.

Have you ever thought about a Chemnitz motif?
(laughs) That would definitely be something to think about. It would be feasible.

Ronny Graupner and his two business partners want to conquer the gaming world from an office on Zietenstraße. "I made a conscious decision in favour of the "Kabinettstückchen Coworking Chemnitz". As a start-up entrepreneur, the coworking space is ideal for me to set up a company, keep costs low and operate from here. I also live nearby," he explains.

Why was or did Chemnitz become your business location?
I grew up in the city, I work and live here. I can't say anything negative about the city.

Is the city a good place to set up a company?
You can set up a successful start-up here without any problems. Some have proven that in the past. It may be more difficult than in other cities, but I deliberately founded my company here and I stand by Chemnitz. Everyone involved in the company is from Chemnitz and has no reason to say that we should do it somewhere else.

Where do your enquiries and orders come from?
We have orders from all over Germany in our online shop, although we haven't done much advertising so far. Some have already ordered several times and we have been able to establish personal contact with some of them - one customer has already ordered ten mats and another five. The children in this family have a railway and a farm and want to link the two areas from one child's room to the next.

Are the buyers surprised when they hear that the product comes from Chemnitz?
Customers from outside Germany think it's great that a product like this still comes from Germany. For locals who ask about the place of manufacture at our presentations in retail stores or at trade fairs, the answer is a reason to buy. We've had a lot of parents who think it's great that something like this exists or is made in Chemnitz.

Surely your company is predestined for the Vox programme "Höhle der Löwen"?
We've already been approached. But we cancelled.

Why was that?
Because we simply didn't sell enough mats at the time. They would have laughed at us if we had sold 50. It's also a good idea to let the company run for a year and then take stock. With the concrete figures over a year, you could tackle a story like this.

Where do you see your company in 2025?
I hope that in eight years I will have my own small Playmatt store where I can present and sell my products. Another goal is to have a retail presence throughout Germany and, above all, to be well-known. We won't achieve that in two or three years. They say it takes three to five years to become established as an online shop and a little longer in retail. But that's what we want. If we have a well-established company after eight years, we will have achieved our goal.
And who knows how we can develop the mats even further. We have lots of cool ideas. Starting with the fluorescent colours, glitter effects, 3D effects and collaborations with well-known games manufacturers. We are also currently in talks to enter the merchandise sector for certain children's films.