Brenninkmeijer family
Brenninkmeijer (
History
19th century
From the end of the 18th century several Brenninkmeyers lived in Sneek, where Herman and his son Andreas founded a company.
20th century
Bernard Joseph Brenninkmeijer (Mettingen 1871 - Rome 1945), the youngest son of Clemens, is considered to be the father of the C&A formula. He started discounting in Amsterdam (Rekenen in Centen, in plaats van Procenten). In 1906 he repositioned the company which was the first step towards future years of exceptional successes. In his store in Amsterdam, he was one of the world's first discounters, introducing fixed prices. Instead of using a customary "keystone" gross margin of 50% he only asked for 25% or less. His insight: "you could cut your profit mark-up dramatically. Even with much a lower margin, the far greater volume of sales would still boost the bottom line profit. This major innovation has had a great impact on people's thinking within all C&A companies even to this very day."[5]
By 1910 there were ten stores in the Netherlands, also in Groningen and Rotterdam. In 1911, the company opened the first German store in Berlin, managed by Clemens (1862-1938). In 1922, the company started a store in Oxford Street.[2] During WWII the company profited from (expropriated) Jewish real estate and Ostarbeiter; after the war from the economic boom. The first store in the USA was opened in 1948. In 1967 C&A cooperated with Twiggy as designer; shops were opened in Belgium. In the 1970s the expansion of C&A went on: also Switzerland, France, Spain and Japan were added as markets. In 1981, Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld worked for C&A. In the 1990s the company opened shops in Portugal and Mexico.[6]
According to NRC Handelsblad, the family also financed the establishment of the CDA and the Pope's arrival in the Netherlands in 1985. The Brenninkmeijers have meanwhile donated more than a billion euros to the Catholic church. Since 1995, the Brenninkmeijers' philanthropic activities have been managed more centrally via Porticus and Benevolentia.[7][8] Until the mid-nineties only male descendants in a direct line of Clemens and August Brenninkmeijer could become shareholders.
21st century
C&A is an
For a period of time Eastern Mountain Sports, Steinbach, Ohrbach's, Maurices, Miller's Outpost and others were owned through the American Retail Group.[9] In the 1980s and 1990s, they owned the Comark group in Canada, which included Bretton's department stores, Clark Shoes and Collacut luggage stores.[10] The Canadian operations were sold in 2005 to KarpReilly, LLC of Greenwich, Connecticut.[11]
In 2009, the Brenninkmeijer family founded the Draiflessen Collection in Mettingen.
In 2011, Jean-Louis Brenninkmeijer founded Little Canada.[14] A Toronto-based organization constructing a miniature model of Canada.[15]
In 2015, Bregal Partners, an arm of Cofra Holding, began investing in the fishing industry of the United States.[16] The firm owns stake in Seattle-based American Seafoods[17] and Blue Harvest Fisheries in New Bedford, Massachusetts.[18] Blue Harvest Fisheries is the single largest groundfish permit holder in New England.[19]
In 2017, Alain Caparros succeeded Philippe Brenninkmeijer as CEO of C&A Europe; he was the first non-family member at the helm of the company. In 2019 the CEO Post for C&A Europe was held by Edward Brenninkmeijer; in 2021 by Giny Boer, the first woman at the top.[20] Meanwhile C&A sold its Mexico and China businesses to local investors.
Fortune
In addition to textile retailer C&A, the Brenninkmeijers own and control several companies in the private equity, real estate and financial services industries.[21] named Anthos Fund & Asset Management, Redevco, and Bregal. Through their investment vehicles, they have stake in two of the largest fishing companies on each coast of the United States.[16]
Cofra Holding AG (100% owned by family[22]) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Fashion retail | Real estate | Private equity | Financial services |
C&A | Redevco | Bregal Investments Entrepreneurs Fund |
Banco Ibi C&A |
more than 10 bn. Euro |
7 bn. Euro |
8 bn. Euro |
unknown value |
Notable members
The family seems to have 12 branches and 500 members.
From 1988 to 2011, Mother Theresa Brenninkmeyer was the prioress, later abbess, of a convent in Sostrup Castle (Denmark).[25]
Two family members have entered the entertainment industry, producer Stephan Brenninkmeijer and actor Philippe Brenninkmeyer.
References
- ^ a b "Zoeken". allefriezen.nl.
- ^ a b c "History - About us - Company - C&A". www.c-and-a.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2011.
- ^ "Tijdbalk | C&A Nederland".
- ^ "ZEIT ONLINE |".
- ^ Vier Generaties Snekerkring, 2006, Surrey Beheermaatschappij
- ^ "Meilensteine | C&A Schweiz". www.c-and-a.com.
- ^ "Stichting Benevolentia".
- ^ "Welcome to Porticus – Building a just and sustainable world for all".
- ^ "Yahoo Finance - Stock Market Live, Quotes, Business & Finance News". biz.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on June 3, 2005.
- ^ The Globe and Mail, "Meet the Green Family", 10 September 2008, p.B1
- ^ "Comark Inc". Comark.ca. Retrieved 2016-01-03.
- ^ "Draiflessen".
- ^ Spoerer, Mark (December 5, 2016). "C&A: Een familiebedrijf in Duitsland, Nederland en Groot-Brittannië 1911-1961". C.H.Beck – via Google Books.
- ^ Rinaldi, Luc (2021-07-08). "The man who built a $24-million miniature replica of Canada". Toronto Life. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ "Little Canada: Who We Are | Toronto Attraction". Little Canada. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ a b "How Foreign Private Equity Hooked New England's Fishing Industry".
- ^ "Case Study - American Seafoods | Bregal Investments".
- ^ "US Community Behavioral Announces Acquisition of Brain Injury Rehab Specialist ReMed – Bregal Partners".
- ^ "New England Groundfish: An All-American Success Story".
- ^ "C&A AG appoints new CEO and CFO to lead its European business - New Non-Executive Director joins board". www.c-and-a.com.
- ^ George L. Brenninkmeijer. "Brenninkmeijer Holding GmbH". Brenninkmeijer-holding.de. Retrieved 2017-01-04.
- ^ "Rezeptprüfer: C&A-Familie baut Marktposition im Retaxbereich aus". Deutsche-apotheker-zeitung.de. 2016-03-18. Retrieved 2017-01-04.
- ^ Schuller, Ingrid Raagaard und Alexander (June 16, 2010). "Fesseln, Schläge und Isolationshaft im Kloster". www.abendblatt.de.
- ^ "Prinses Carolina getrouwd met C&A-telg|Binnenland". Telegraaf.nl. Retrieved 2016-01-03.
- ^ "Hvad skete der egentlig på Sostrup Kloster? | Kristeligt Dagblad". Kristeligt-dagblad.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 2016-01-03.
External links
- COFRA Holding website
- https://mtsprout.nl/management-leiderschap/bonje-bij-de-brenninkmeijers-waarover
- https://www.dedikkeblauwe.nl/news/stilte-over-private-filantropie-brenninkmeijers-bijbels-gemotiveerd
- https://decorrespondent.nl/11375/veel-voor-weinig-hoe-c-a-als-eerste-fast-fashion-naar-nederland-bracht/4582620292250-16e8894a