| Success stories
From Wolf Mountain to large chains: how Nobilis Tilia grew without losing its soul
In 2020 we are with Tilia nobilis implemented a program focused on setting up the company for further growth – we reviewed the cost model, the method of allocating costs to individual products, and the long-term marketing strategy, including the definition of target groups and the refinement of the product portfolio. Six years later, we returned to Vlčí Hora with the question of what had changed in the company since then.
Growth that doesn't rely on adding people
Over the past five to six years, Nobilis Tilia's turnover has more than doubled from 88 to 180 million crowns. According to Martin Růžička, one of the important keys to this was investment in digitalization: the company introduced a new B2B e-shop, CRM system, BI reporting and WMS system for managing the shipping warehouse. Everything is connected into a comprehensive management system. This shift is best seen during the Christmas peak: "„Previously, we managed to prepare around 500 to 550 packages for shipment daily with seasonal part-time workers. Today, with the same team of people, we can handle up to 900 orders in one shift. Everything is completely paperless. We manage to process a third of orders on the day they are placed with customers, while the remaining two-thirds are dispatched the very next day.," Martin Růžička describes.
For Nobilis Tilia, digitalization did not mean a departure from the original philosophy. Quite the opposite. When a company grows, it risks starting to focus on what is burning. People spend their time rewriting data, searching for information, and operating instead of focusing on customers, products, or company development.
According to him, technology is not the goal. It is primarily intended to eliminate unnecessary work and give the company the opportunity to grow without the number of people and the complexity of management growing as quickly as each additional million in turnover.
A company that knows how to name its crises
According to Martin Růžička, practically every growing company goes through a similar development. First, it lacks sufficient marketing, then a salesperson, then structure, process management, production capacities. Finally, the question arises whether the company can function without key people.„Every such "crisis" looks a little different, but it's always about the direction the company takes from it.,“" summarizes Růžička. Nobilis Tilia has gone through this cycle several times and has learned to see it as an impulse to action rather than a threat.
With growth, it's not just the number of employees or the amount of turnover that changes. The very way a company operates changes. What worked for a company with a turnover of several tens of millions may not work for a company approaching two hundred million.
One of the impulses for the transformation was Covid, when the company quickly responded to the decline in business for hundreds of cooperating beauticians and masseuses - it offered them discounts and sales support through their own customers, which, according to Růžička, ensured further growth for the company and at the same time built the loyalty of business partners and customers, which has lasted to this day.
He considers the ability to continuously change one's own way of functioning to be one of the most important management disciplines. „Growth isn’t just about doing more of what we do today. It’s about changing the way we run the business several times along the way.“
It may be a less visible part of the story than new products or new sales channels, but it is what allows the brand to continue to develop without each new phase of growth meaning a loss of control.
From cozy stores to large chains
Nobilis Tilia has long built its identity on small shops, beauticians and massage parlors. Nevertheless, it decided to step into places where few would expect it at first glance – into chains such as dm drogerie, Notino or Alza. The step that the company had been considering for a long time helped them maintain growth in times of rising costs without having to compromise on their natural convictions. Today, the brand combines several worlds – its own stores and e-shop, a professional network of beauticians and therapists, and large digital and retail players. Each of them fulfills a different role and addresses a different customer.
A new chapter: a strong partner for expansion
At the beginning of 2026, Nobilis Tilia became part of the herbal pillar of the Kofola ČeskoSlovensko group, alongside the manufacturer LEROS. Co-owner Adéla Zrubecká described the acquisition as a natural step after thirty years of building the company: they were looking for a partner with the same philosophy and values, who would help them grow further - even beyond the borders of the Czech Republic.
The story of Nobilis Tilia shows that even a company firmly rooted in tradition and natural values can grow thanks to data, processes, and the courage to seek strong partners for the next chapter.
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