Vroom & Dreesmann

Vroom & Dreesmann (V&D) was a Dutch chain of department stores founded in 1887.[1] It was declared bankrupt on 31 December 2015,[2] although its branches were still in operation until 15 February 2016. On 16 February 2016, it was announced that takeover negotiations had not led to an agreement, ultimately resulting in the company's demise.[3]

Vroom & Dreesmann
IndustryDepartment store
FateBankruptcy
Founded1887 (1887)
Founder
  • Willem Vroom
  • Anton Dreesmann
Defunct15 February 2016 (2016-02-15)
Headquarters
Amsterdam 
ParentSun Capital Partners
Divisions64 branches (2015)
+3 La Place stand alones
Websitewww.vd.nl/ 
Original building and signage: Vroom & Dreesmann, 147 Laat, Alkmaar

In 2015, V&D operated 67 branches throughout the Netherlands, three of which were branded as La Place, V&D's former subsidiary restaurant chain which had in-house and standalone restaurants throughout the country. The department stores sold, among others, 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.

History
Old V&D logo outside its Almere branch.
Vroom & Dreesmann store in Rotterdam.

1887–2007: Foundation and expansion of Vroom & Dreesmann

Vroom & Dreesmann was founded in 1887 by Willem Vroom and Anton Dreesmann.[4] The first branch opened in Weesperstraat in Amsterdam.[4]

The company expanded rapidly throughout the Netherlands in the 20th century.

Vroom & Dreesmann was reorganized into Vendex in 1972 and Vendex International in 1982.[5] 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.[6][7] 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.[8] It also inherited KBB's royal designation "Koninklijk".[9]

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, but was allowed to keep the K in its name.[9] In 2005, Vendex KBB changed its name into Maxeda.

2007–2015: Final years and bankruptcy of V&D

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.

At the beginning of February 2015, it was unclear whether V&D would continue to exist.[10] 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 compete successfully for V&D's market share.[5]
  • A lack of clear identity,[11] in comparison with these affordable stores and the more exclusive ones, such as De Bijenkorf.[5]
  • The sale of the V&D real estate by the joint British-American ownership before Sun Capital, possibly increasing the warehouse's operational costs. The claim, that this is part of the problem, has been contested as, whether through capital costs or rent, the real estate needs to be accounted for one way or another.

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.[12] 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.

Closed and empty V&D in Utrecht after bankruptcy.

In December 2015, the firm was again under court protection for insolvency.[13][14] Under the new situation, the website no longer sold articles.[13] V&D gift cards as well as air miles were no longer accepted for payment.[13] On 31 December 2015, V&D was declared bankrupt.[14][2] The appointed liquidators decided to keep the department stores open, pending restructuring and takeover talks with several interested parties.[2] On 26 January 2016, Jumbo, a Dutch supermarket chain, announced that it had acquired the subsidiary La Place with the exception of its in-house restaurants, in which it also expressed an interest.[15] Further talks were on-going throughout January and February and ultimately focused on CEO of the Dutch clothing retailer CoolCat and investor Roland Kahn.[16] On 16 February, it was announced that the negotiations for a takeover had broken down. Various news media marked this announcement as the definitive end of the company.[3][17][18] About 10,000 employees lost their jobs.[2]

Since 2015: Hudson's Bay and a V&D web store

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]

The brand name V&D was bought by entrepreneurs Ronald van Zetten, Roland Kahn, and Jaco Scheffers.[21] In 2018 a web store with the V&D brand was opened.

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.[22][23]

gollark: Everyone knows a surveillance state is an excellent alternative to good parenting.
gollark: This sort of thing is always immensely stupid and/or actively malicious against the population of the country question.
gollark: https://www.theregister.com/2020/06/24/us_encryption_backdoor/
gollark: Also another stupid one, "LAEDA", which does not have much of an acronym.
gollark: There was the PATRIOT one, which was also spying.

References
  1. "Facts & Figures". V&D. Archived from the original on 22 January 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. "Oerhollands warenhuis V&D kampte met slecht imago". Algemeen Dagblad (in Dutch). ANP. 14 September 2010. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  5. 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.
  6. Van Der Linde, Frans. "Vendex International". ANP Historisch Archief (in Dutch). Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  7. Barmash, Isadore (2 February 1989). "Talking Deals; Dillard's Desire for Vendex Stake". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  8. "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.
  9. "Vendex-warenhuizen niet meer koninklijk" [Vendex department stores no longer royal]. Trouw (in Dutch). 2 December 2005. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  10. "Department store group V&D fights for survival (update)". DutchNews.nl.
  11. "'V&D is saai en ouderwets'". PAROOL.
  12. ANP. "V&D gaat toch overleggen met verhuurders Den Bosch en Heerlen". Z24.
  13. "Cookiewall: Cookies op de Volkskrant - de Volkskrant".
  14. "Dutch V&D department store business goes bust". BBC News. 31 December 2015. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  15. 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.
  16. "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.
  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. https://www.gooieneemlander.nl/nieuws/schoolcampus-van-vd-bij-albert-heijn
  22. https://www.forbes.com/sites/walterloeb/2019/06/10/hudsons-bay-sells-european-stake-plans-to-go-private/#36664e3e1dc0, Hudson's Bay Sells European Stake, Might Go Private
  23. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-31/hudson-s-bay-to-close-dutch-unit-dismiss-1-400-workers-fd-says, Hudson’s Bay to Close Dutch Unit and Dismiss 1,400 Workers: Report
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