Vroom & Dreesmann

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Dutch retail chain

title: "Vroom & Dreesmann" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["retail-companies-established-in-1887", "retail-companies-disestablished-in-2016", "department-stores-of-the-netherlands", "defunct-retail-companies-of-the-netherlands", "shops-in-amsterdam", "dutch-companies-established-in-1887", "dutch-companies-disestablished-in-2016", "companies-formerly-owned-by-maxeda", "kohlberg-kravis-roberts-companies"] description: "Dutch retail chain" topic_path: "geography/netherlands" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vroom_&_Dreesmann" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Dutch retail chain ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox company"]

FieldValue
nameVroom & Dreesmann
logoV&D logo.svg
foundation
founder
fateBankruptcy
defunct
locationNetherlands
key_peopleJohn van der Ent (CEO)
area_servedNetherlands
industryDepartment store
brandsV&D, La Place
num_employees10,000
num_employees_year2016
num_locations67
num_locations_year2016
parentSun Capital Partners
homepage
::

| name = Vroom & Dreesmann | former_name = | logo = V&D logo.svg | logo_caption = | type = | foundation = | founder = | fate = Bankruptcy | defunct = | location = Netherlands | key_people = John van der Ent (CEO) | area_served = Netherlands | industry = Department store | brands = V&D, La Place | products = | services = | revenue = | num_employees = 10,000 | num_employees_year = 2016 | num_locations = 67 | num_locations_year = 2016 | parent = Sun Capital Partners | subsid = | homepage = ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Paul_Guermonprez,_Afb_010016000160.jpg" caption="Amsterdam store on the [[Rokin]], 1930"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Maastricht,_interieur_V&D,_advertentie_1935.jpg" caption="Ad for the Maastricht store, 1935"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Vroom_en_dreesman.svg" caption="Vroom & Dreesmann logo in the 1980s"] ::

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

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.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Exterieur_OVERZICHT,_VOORGEVEL,LINKER_ZIJGEVEL-Haarlem-20284764-_RCE.jpg" caption="Vroom & Dreesmann on the [[Grote Houtstraat]] in Haarlem, 1993"] ::

History

Foundation and expansion, 1887–1972

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

Vroom & Dreesmann 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. 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, yet was allowed to keep the K in its name. In 2005, Vendex KBB changed its name into Maxeda.

V&D, downfall and bankruptcy, 2007–2015

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3e/Gesloten_V&D_in_Utrecht_na_faillissement_(2).jpeg" caption="Closed and empty V&D in Utrecht after bankruptcy."] ::

In 2007, Vroom & Dreesmann was rebranded into V&D 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. 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.
  • Lacking clear identity, in comparison with these affordable stores and the more exclusive ones, such as De Bijenkorf.
  • 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. 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. The website no longer sold articles. V&D gift cards as well as air miles were no longer accepted for payment. On 31 December 2015, V&D was declared bankrupt. The appointed liquidators kept the department stores open, pending restructuring and takeover talks with interested parties. On 26 January 2016, Supermarket chain Jumbo announced that it had acquired the subsidiary La Place. Talks continued for selling the stores that focused in February on Roland Kahn's retailer CoolCat. By 16 February, the negotiations for a takeover had broken down. About 10,000 employees lost their jobs.

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. 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.

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.

V&D online only, 2018–

The brand name V&D was bought by entrepreneurs Ronald van Zetten, Roland Kahn, and Jaco Scheffers. On 5 September 2018 a web store with the V&D brand was opened. In 2025, the brand was acquired by the Lifestyle Retail Group (LRG Online), a UK company owned by Chris Griffin and Matt Purt. LRG has plans to expand the website.

Stores

Voormalig_V&D-gebouw_aan_het_Rokin_in_Amsterdam-crop.jpg|Amsterdam, Rokin side Vroom&Dreesman, Alkmaar.JPG|Alkmaar UtrechtsewegWarenhuisVroomenDreesman.JPG|Amersfoort RM510612 - Enschede - Korte Hengelosestraat 1.jpg|Enschede (1939–1960) V&D - Leiden - 20364386 - RCE.jpg|Leiden Op een kolom geplaatste ronde tearoom aan de achtergevel van het warenhuis - Den Helder - 20396404 - RCE.jpg|Den Helder 031-1211 Enschede 043.JPG|Enschede 120319 Grote Markt 21 (V&D) Groningen NL.jpg|Groningen 513377_Vroom_en_Dreesman_Haarlem_crop.jpg|Haarlem, Grote Houtstraat 70(nl) Former VD Heerlen1.JPG|Heerlen (see article) 's-Hertogenbosch Rijksmonument 522519 Schapenmarkt 4, 6.JPG|'s-Hertogenbosch (Den Bosch) V&D Filiaal Hoofddorp.jpg|Hoofddorp Een art déco-pui heeft de winkel van de Gruyter & Zn - Hoorn - 20406656 - RCE.jpg|Hoorn GroteStaatV&D3.jpg|Maastricht Rotterdam V&D.jpg|Rotterdam Catharijnesingel Utrecht V&D.jpg|Utrecht 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.

References

References

  1. "Facts & Figures".
  2. (14 September 2010). "Oerhollands warenhuis V&D kampte met slecht imago". [[Algemeen Dagblad]].
  3. Van Der Linde, Frans. "Vendex International". ANP Historisch Archief.
  4. Barmash, Isadore. (2 February 1989). "Talking Deals; Dillard's Desire for Vendex Stake".
  5. (9 February 1998). "Grootste warenhuisketen in de maak: V & D-concern koopt Bijenkorf".
  6. (2 December 2005). "Vendex-warenhuizen niet meer koninklijk".
  7. (3 February 2015). "Department store group V&D fights for survival (update)". DutchNews.nl.
  8. Van der Laan, Servaas. (10 February 2016). "Wie zijn verantwoordelijk voor problemen V&D en Blokker?". [[Elsevier]].
  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. "Cookiewall: Cookies op de Volkskrant - de Volkskrant".
  12. (31 December 2015). "Dutch V&D department store business goes bust".
  13. De Zeeuw, Huib. (31 December 2015). "V&D is failliet verklaard, winkels blijven nog open".
  14. Hermanides, Elisa. (26 January 2016). "Supermarktketen Jumbo koopt La Place-restaurants".
  15. (10 February 2016). "CoolCat-eigenaar dreigt race om V&D te verliezen".
  16. (16 February 2016). "Overname V&D is mislukt".
  17. Van der Ploeg, Jarl. (16 February 2016). "Na 129 jaar is het over voor V&D: 'Teleurstelling in duizenden hoofdletters'".
  18. (16 February 2016). "Doek valt voor V&D; doorstart mislukt".
  19. Hermanides, Elisa. (12 February 2016). "Twee schakers in eindspel V&D".
  20. (17 May 2016). "HBC to expand to the Netherlands". CBC News.
  21. Loeb, Walter. "Hudson's Bay Sells European Stake, Might Go Private".
  22. (2019-08-31). "Hudson’s Bay to Close Dutch Unit and Dismiss 1,400 Workers: Report". Bloomberg.com.
  23. "De Gooi- en Eemlander - Schoolcampus van V&D bij Albert Heijn".
  24. (22 April 2018). "Vroom en Dreesmann". Tens Media.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

retail-companies-established-in-1887retail-companies-disestablished-in-2016department-stores-of-the-netherlandsdefunct-retail-companies-of-the-netherlandsshops-in-amsterdamdutch-companies-established-in-1887dutch-companies-disestablished-in-2016companies-formerly-owned-by-maxedakohlberg-kravis-roberts-companies