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Galaxus wallflowers: these snow chains deserve your attention

6.12.2022

There’s always the popular – and the overlooked. Even when it comes to our products here at Galaxus. Some live out a shadowy existence, unnoticed by the masses. Just look at the Thule snow chains from König Chain.

Fifteen minutes of fame. Andy Warhol coined the expression in the 1960s, thus suggesting that in a future world, everyone would be world famous for at least a little while. Anyone and everyone? Wrong. There are some who never make it into the limelight. Not even for fifteen minutes. These snow chains from König Chain are one example. But that’s going to change, at least for the few minutes it takes you to read this article. Although it’ll be less than 15, it’s still something.

Snow chains

König Chain ThuleKing XD16 Gr 265 16mmSnow Chains

It all began on Christmas 1977. The day before Christmas Eve, my parents, my sister and I were on our way to Engadin for our ski holiday. It was afternoon and we were standing at the foot of the Flüela Pass, covered in deep snow. Metre-high walls of snow were piled up high to both the left and right of the road. The hurricane-like whistling of an incoming winter storm echoed through the pass. In the twilight, I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my eyes. And that’s when we realised – our snow chains were too small; they didn’t fit. Dad had just bought them as we were entering the mountains so that he could quickly mount them on our summer tyres (don’t ask me what he was thinking!).

What now? «We drive on,» said Dad and threw the snow chains back into the trunk with a clatter. At the time, a kind of mountain pass guard was stationed at the foot of the pass, sitting in a rickety wooden hut. He looked critically at the wheels of our Toyota Corolla and warned us we’d be driving at our own risk. But he strongly advised us against doing so. Nevertheless, we drove on. No snow chains. Just summer tyres. And yet, we actually made it over the pass and reached Scuol in one piece. Probably thanks to my father’s expert driving skills and the Corolla’s front-wheel drive.

But that doesn’t change the fact that I spent hours in the back seat a nervous wreck, squeezing my sister’s hand damp from fear. It was then I swore that as an adult, I would never drive to the mountains without having tested my snow chains beforehand. I’ve never had the opportunity to fulfill my promise, though, because I’ve never learned to drive. That’s why I don’t buy snow chains, including the Thule XD16 Gr 265 16 mm make from König Chain.

How these snow chains ended up at the back of our pit lane

If you type «snow chains» into our shop’s search bar, you’ll get 534 products to choose from (at the time of writing). The results are generally sorted according to how relevant they are. In other words, you’ll see the most «relevant» chains first and then the remaining chains in decreasing relevance until you get to the least relevant, number 534. You can find out how products are sorted and displayed here. Simply put, it all comes down to:

search query accuracy
users’ search and shopping behaviour
availability and estimated delivery time
popularity and novelty
attractiveness and price

Taking all these criteria into account, Thule from König Chain currently lands at the back of the pit lane. Apparently, I’m not the only one who isn’t interested in this product. In other words, these snow chains aren’t flying off the proverbial shelf.

In the Galaxus shop, I regularly come across products that nobody sees, nobody knows and nobody wants. But even these bench players deserve a little attention. That’s why I’ve taken it upon myself to showcase our Galaxus wallflowers from time to time.

Cover photo: Shutterstock

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Patrick Bardelli

Senior Editor

Patrick.Bardelli@digitecgalaxus.ch

From radio journalist to product tester and storyteller, jogger to gravel bike novice and fitness enthusiast with barbells and dumbbells. I'm excited to see where the journey'll take me next.

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