Vroom and Dreesmann
Logo as introduced on 8 September 2007
|
|
|
Formerly called
|
Vroom & Dreesmann |
|---|---|
| Industry | Department store |
| Fate | Bankruptcy |
| Founded | 1887 |
| Founder |
|
| Defunct | 15 February 2016 |
| Parent | Sun Capital Partners |
| Divisions | 64 branches (2015) +3 La Place stand alones |
V&D (Vroom & Dreesmann) was a Dutch chain of department stores founded in 1887. It was declared bankrupt on 31 December 2015, 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.
As of 2015[update], V&D operated 67 branches throughout the Netherlands, three of which were branded as La Place, its former subsidiary restaurant chain which has both in-house and standalone restaurants throughout the country. The department stores sold, among other things, clothing and shoes, jewellery, cosmetics, books, home-entertainment products, electric goods, stationery, cards and posters, furniture and home wares. Most branches also had a La Place in-house restaurant, a travel agent and an ATM. Larger branches also had a bakery.
Vroom & Dreesmann was founded in 1887 by Willem Vroom and Anton Dreesmann. The first branch opened in Weesperstraat in Amsterdam. The company expanded rapidly throughout the Netherlands in the 20th century. It was reorganized into Vendex in 1972 and Vendex International in 1982. 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. 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. It also inherited KBB's royal designation "Koninklijk".
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. In 2005, Vendex KBB changed its name into Maxeda. In 2007, Vroom & Dreesmann was rebranded into V&D and the red, white and blue logo was replaced with the current version. In 2008, the vd.nl website was launched, much later than other department stores. Since the end of 2010, V&D is a subsidiary of Sun Capital Partners.
...
Wikipedia