Latest / Family Business Stories with Fexingo: Succession, Legacy, and Multi-Generational Companies / How the Brenninkmeyer Family Built C&A Into a Retail Empire
Transcript
- Lucas: Luna, I want to talk today about a family that built one of the biggest clothing retailers in Europe, but most people outside of Europe have never heard their name: the Brenninkmeyers. Luna: I think I've seen C&A stores in Germany and the Netherlands. They're the ones with the blue and yellow logo, right? Lucas: Exactly. C&A — the company name — stands for the two founders: Clemens and August Brenninkmeyer. They opened their first textile shop in a small Dutch town called Sneek back in 1841. Luna: That's a long time ago. How did they go from a single shop to a European chain? Lucas: The secret isn't really the clothes. It's the family governance. The Brenninkmeyers created what they call 'De Familie' — a set of rules that governed ownership, succession, and even marriage. For example, only direct male descendants could own shares in the business. And if you married someone outside the Catholic faith, you had to leave the company. Luna: That sounds incredibly strict. Did people actually leave? Lucas: They did. There are stories of cousins who married Protestants and were bought out. But the discipline created something rare: a business that stayed under family control for seven generations. By the mid-20th century, C&A had hundreds of stores across Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. Luna: So what was the structure that held it all together? Lucas: The family operated as a partnership. Not a corporation with a CEO — a partnership. Each generation had a few dozen family members who were partners. They elected a managing partner from among themselves, who would serve for a set term. The family also had a constitution that spelled out exactly who could work in the business and how profits were distributed. Luna: A family constitution. That sounds like something more modern companies use. But they wrote it in the 1800s? Lucas: The core principles date back to the founders. The formal constitution was written later, but the idea of codified rules was there from the start. And it worked remarkably well. The Brenninkmeyers avoided the bitter feuds that tore apart families like the Guccis or the Binghams. They had disagreements, sure, but the mechanism for resolving them was in place. Luna: What happened when the company faced outside competition? I'm thinking of Zara and H&M in the 1990s and 2000s. Lucas: That's where the story gets interesting. C&A was a mid-market retailer — decent quality, affordable prices, but not fast fashion. When Zara and H&M started offering new styles every few weeks, C&A struggled. The family realised they needed to adapt, but changing a business that had been run the same way for 150 years is hard. Luna: And I'm guessing the strict ownership structure made it even harder to raise capital or sell off parts of the business? Lucas: Exactly. The partnership model meant that all profits were distributed to family members. There was no retained earnings pool to reinvest. And bringing in outside investors was against the constitution. So C&A was effectively capital-constrained just when its competitors were spending billions on supply chain and logistics. Luna: So what did they do? Lucas: In the early 2000s, the family made two big decisions. First, they sold their German real estate — the buildings that housed many C&A stores — and leased them back. That freed up capital. Second, they started closing underperforming stores and investing in a more modern supply chain. They also brought in non-family executives for the first time in key roles. Luna: That must have been a huge cultural shift. Bringing in outsiders to run a business that had been family-run for generations. Lucas: It was. But the family realised that if they wanted to survive, they had to professionalise the management. The ownership stayed in the family, but the day-to-day operations were handed to professionals. And it worked. C&A stabilised. They even started expanding again in some markets. Luna: I've noticed that C&A isn't as visible in some countries anymore. In the UK, for example, they closed all their stores a few years ago. Lucas: Right. The UK market was tough, and they decided to focus on continental Europe. But the bigger point is that the family adapted. They didn't stick to the old rules rigidly. They changed the constitution to allow non-family management. They changed the ownership structure to allow some divisions to be sold. Flexibility within a framework of core values — that's the lesson. Luna: It reminds me of something I read about the Mars family: they also had very strict rules, but they evolved over time. Lucas: Exactly. The Brenninkmeyers share that DNA. But what's unique about them is that they've maintained family ownership for 185 years while operating in a low-margin, highly competitive industry. That's almost unheard of. Most family businesses in retail get sold or go public within a few generations. Luna: What's the current state of the family and the business? Is the seventh generation still involved? Lucas: Yes, the seventh generation is active. The family still owns 100 percent of the company. But they've also diversified. The Brenninkmeyer family office, called Cofra, invests in everything from real estate to private equity. They own a stake in the Dutch bank Van Lanschot Kempen. So the retail business is still the core, but it's not the only thing. Luna: So they've used the wealth from C&A to build a broader portfolio. That's smart. Lucas: Absolutely. And they've done it without losing control. The family council still meets regularly. They have a family charter that outlines the values and responsibilities. They even have a family board that oversees the family office. It's a system that's been refined over generations. Luna: You know, listening to this, I think about how many family businesses fail in the third generation. The Brenninkmeyers have made it to the seventh. What's the single most important factor, would you say? Lucas: I'd say it's the willingness to separate ownership from management when necessary. The family never insisted that a family member had to be the CEO. They always hired the best person for the job, even if that meant going outside. That prevented the business from becoming a playground for entitled heirs. Luna: That's a powerful lesson. And it's one that a lot of family businesses struggle with. Lucas: It is. And if these conversations have moved your work forward in some small way, it's worth mentioning that a handful of listeners chip in monthly through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that's literally what funds making this many of these. Luna: Yeah, it's simple but it keeps the show ad-free and independent. Lucas: Right. So back to the Brenninkmeyers. The other factor is their discretion. This is a family that has deliberately stayed out of the spotlight. There are no billionaire Brenninkmeyers on the Forbes list because the wealth is spread among hundreds of family members. They value privacy over publicity. Luna: That makes sense. If you're not flashy, you're less likely to attract envy or internal competition. Lucas: Exactly. And it's allowed them to make long-term decisions without pressure from outside investors or the media. For example, during the 2008 financial crisis, C&A didn't cut jobs or close stores the way competitors did. They rode it out because they could. Luna: So patience is another part of the recipe. Lucas: Patience and a long-term horizon. The Brenninkmeyers think in generations, not quarters. That's the ultimate competitive advantage of a family business that's done right.