Vroom & Dreesmann

Vroom & Dreesmann
IndustryDepartment store
Founded1887 (1887)
Founder
  • Willem Vroom
  • Anton Dreesmann
Defunct15 February 2016 (2016-02-15)
FateBankruptcy
HeadquartersNetherlands
Number of locations
67 (2016)
Area served
Netherlands
Key people
John van der Ent (CEO)
BrandsV&D, La Place
Number of employees
10,000 (2016)
ParentSun Capital Partners
Websitevd.nl

Vroom & Dreesmann (V&D) was a Dutch chain of department stores founded in 1887.[1]

In 2015, V&D operated 67 branches throughout the Netherlands, of which 64 department stores and 3 standalone locations of La Place, V&D's former subsidiary restaurant chain which had in-house and standalone restaurants throughout the country. The department stores' product range included clothing and shoes, jewelry, cosmetics, books, home-entertainment products, electric goods, stationery, cards and posters, furniture and homewares. Most branches also had a La Place in-house restaurant, a travel agent and an ATM. Larger branches also had a bakery.

Foundation and expansion, 1887–1972

Vroom & Dreesmann was founded in 1887 by Willem Vroom and Anton Dreesmann.[2] The first branch opened in Weesperstraat[nl] in Amsterdam.[2]

The company expanded rapidly throughout the Netherlands until 1972.

Vroom & Dreesmann hits a plateau, 1972–2007

Vroom & Dreesmann was reorganized into Vendex in 1972 and Vendex International in 1982.[3] In 1987, the in-house restaurant chain La Place was opened. In 1988, Anton Dreesman was replaced as the company's CEO with Abraham Verhoef.[4][5] In 1999, Vendex merged with Koninklijke Bijenkorf Beheer (KBB), the parent company of retail chains De Bijenkorf and Hema, and was renamed into Vendex KBB.[6] It also inherited KBB's royal designation "Koninklijk".[7]

In 2004, Vendex KBB was sold to a new investor group that included KKR, Alpinvest and Permira. It lost its royal designation as a result, yet was allowed to keep the K in its name.[7] In 2005, Vendex KBB changed its name into Maxeda.

V&D, downfall and bankruptcy, 2007–2015

In 2007, Vroom & Dreesmann was rebranded into V&D[1] and the red, white and blue logo was replaced with a black logo. In 2008, the vd.nl website was launched. From 2010 to 2015, V&D was a subsidiary of Sun Capital Partners.

In February 2015, it was unclear whether V&D would continue to exist.[8] Among the reasons mentioned for its demise:

  • The rise of the internet with online shopping and the late start of V&D e-commerce.
  • Cheaper brick and mortar stores such as the Swedish H&M and Irish Primark that competed successfully for V&D's market share.[3]
  • Lacking clear identity,[9] in comparison with these affordable stores and the more exclusive ones, such as De Bijenkorf.[3]
  • The sale of the V&D real estate by the joint British-American ownership before Sun Capital, possibly increasing the warehouse's operational costs.

After negotiations, real estate owners agreed to reduce the area and costs of the rental properties, employees agreed to a gradual pay cut, and the V&D owners agreed to inject capital, but not the amount needed. Eventually, this problem was also resolved. In mid-March 2015, the rent reduction in Den Bosch and Heerlen remained unresolved.[10] In May 2015, V&D kept working on reducing the rents and a new business plan, to be implemented in the short term, which aimed to make V&D profitable again in two years.

In December 2015, the firm was again under court protection for insolvency.[11][12] The website no longer sold articles.[11] V&D gift cards as well as air miles were no longer accepted for payment.[11] On 31 December 2015, V&D was declared bankrupt.[12][13] The appointed liquidators kept the department stores open, pending restructuring and takeover talks with interested parties.[13] On 26 January 2016, Supermarket chain Jumbo announced that it had acquired the subsidiary La Place.[14] Talks continued for selling the stores that focused in February on Roland Kahn's retailer CoolCat.[15] By 16 February, the negotiations for a takeover had broken down.[16][17][18] About 10,000 employees lost their jobs.[13]

Aftermath

Hudson's Bay, 2017–2019

In V&D's latter days, Canadian retail group Hudson's Bay Company negotiated with the landlords to acquire most of the company's premises without having an interest in the company itself.[19] In May 2016 Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) announced that it would take over up to 20 former V&D locations by 2017. HBC said the expansion would cost CAD $340 million and create 2,500 jobs in the stores and another 2,500 temporary construction jobs. The Dutch stores would operate under the "Hudson's Bay" and "Saks Off Fifth" brands.[20]

As of mid-2019, Hudson's Bay Company still operated 15 stores in the defunct Vroom & Dreesmann locations. On August 31, 2019, the company announced that all 15 of those stores would close by year-end.[21][22]

V&D web store, since 2018

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vroom & Dreesmann.

The brand name V&D was bought by entrepreneurs Ronald van Zetten, Roland Kahn, and Jaco Scheffers.[23] In 2018 a web store with the V&D brand was opened.

LRG Online Ltd, 2025

Vroom & Dreesmann was acquired by LRG Online Ltd in 2025 with plans to relaunch V&D as a digital department store.

Stores

Upon the chain's closing in 2016, V&D had 62 stores, located in Alkmaar, Almere, Alphen aan den Rijn, Amersfoort, Amstelveen, Amsterdam (Kalverstraat), Amsterdam-Noord at Buikslotermeerplein(nl), Apeldoorn, Arnhem, Assen, Bergen op Zoom, Beverwijk, Breda, Delft, Den Haag, Den Helder, 's-Hertogenbosch, Deventer, Doetinchem, Dordrecht, Ede, Eindhoven, Emmen, Enschede, Goes, Gorinchem, Gouda, Groningen, Haarlem, Haarlem-Schalkwijk, Heerlen (see article), Hellevoetsluis, Hengelo, Hilversum, Hoofddorp, Hoorn, Leeuwarden, Leiden, Leidschendam, Maastricht, Meppel, Naaldwijk, Nijmegen, Oss, Purmerend, Rijswijk, Roermond, Roosendaal, Rotterdam, Rotterdam-Zuid at Winkelcentrum Zuidplein(nl), Sittard, Tilburg, Uden, Utrecht at Hoog Catharijne(nl), Veenendaal, Venlo, Vlaardingen, Weert, Zaandam, Zeist, Zoetermeer, and Zwolle, all in the Netherlands.[24]

References

  1. ^ a b "Facts & Figures". V&D. Archived from the original on 22 January 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Oerhollands warenhuis V&D kampte met slecht imago". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). ANP. 14 September 2010. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  3. ^ a b c Van der Laan, Servaas (10 February 2016). "Wie zijn verantwoordelijk voor problemen V&D en Blokker?" [Who are responsible for the problems of V&D and Blokker?]. Elsevier (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  4. ^ Van Der Linde, Frans. "Vendex International". ANP Historisch Archief (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  5. ^ Barmash, Isadore (2 February 1989). "Talking Deals; Dillard's Desire for Vendex Stake". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  6. ^ "Grootste warenhuisketen in de maak: V & D-concern koopt Bijenkorf" [Largest department-store chain in the making: V&D group acquires De Bijenkorf]. NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). 9 February 1998. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  7. ^ a b "Vendex-warenhuizen niet meer koninklijk" [Vendex department stores no longer royal]. Trouw (in Dutch). 2 December 2005. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  8. ^ "Department store group V&D fights for survival (update)". DutchNews.nl. 3 February 2015.
  9. ^ "'V&D is saai en ouderwets'". PAROOL.
  10. ^ ANP (18 March 2015). "V&D gaat toch overleggen met verhuurders Den Bosch en Heerlen". Z24.
  11. ^ a b c "Cookiewall: Cookies op de Volkskrant - de Volkskrant".
  12. ^ a b "Dutch V&D department store business goes bust". BBC News. 31 December 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  13. ^ a b c De Zeeuw, Huib (31 December 2015). "V&D is failliet verklaard, winkels blijven nog open" [V&D is declared bankrupt, shops still remain open]. NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  14. ^ Hermanides, Elisa (26 January 2016). "Supermarktketen Jumbo koopt La Place-restaurants" [Supermarket chain Jumbo acquires La Place restaurants]. Trouw (in Dutch). Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  15. ^ "CoolCat-eigenaar dreigt race om V&D te verliezen" [CoolCat owner on track to lose race for V&D]. NOS (in Dutch). 10 February 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  16. ^ Rijlaarsdam, Barbara; Van der Heijden, Teri (16 February 2016). "Overname V&D is mislukt" [V&D takeover has failed]. NRC Handelsblad (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  17. ^ Van der Ploeg, Jarl (16 February 2016). "Na 129 jaar is het over voor V&D: 'Teleurstelling in duizenden hoofdletters'" [After 129 years it is over for V&D: 'Disappointment in thousands of capital letters']. De Volkskrant (in Dutch). Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  18. ^ "Doek valt voor V&D; doorstart mislukt" [Curtain falls for V&D; debt restructuring failed]. NOS (in Dutch). 16 February 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  19. ^ Hermanides, Elisa (12 February 2016). "Twee schakers in eindspel V&D" [Two chess players in endgame V&D]. Trouw (in Dutch). Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  20. ^ "HBC to expand to the Netherlands". CBC News. 17 May 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  21. ^ Loeb, Walter. "Hudson's Bay Sells European Stake, Might Go Private". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-05-12.
  22. ^ "Hudson's Bay to Close Dutch Unit and Dismiss 1,400 Workers: Report". Bloomberg.com. 2019-08-31. Retrieved 2023-05-12.
  23. ^ "De Gooi- en Eemlander - Schoolcampus van V&D bij Albert Heijn". www.gooieneemlander.nl. Archived from the original on 2017-05-05.
  24. ^ Hondelink, Philippe; Otto, Richard (22 April 2018). Vroom en Dreesmann (in Dutch). Tens Media. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
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