Beter Bed

History

Beter Bed was founded in 1981 in Uden by the brothers Mark and Pieter Diks. They raised capital from their father, Jan Diks, co-owner of Dico, managed to secure a modest bank loan and opened their first store in Uden. Shortly afterwards three stores, specialising in bedroom furniture, had been opened. At that time stores specialising in bedroom furniture and accompanying products were a new and unfamiliar phenomenon in the Netherlands since this market segment was dominated by large department stores and specialists concentrating on general interiors. The concept of providing high quality goods and a wide range of products at a low price proved to be successful and was a blueprint for all future activities of Beter Bed. During the second half of the 1980s the company began to grow.

In 1986 Bedden en Bedden B.V., a factory for the production of MDF panels, was established in Uden. In the 1990s two more production facilities were added to the company by acquiring two factories in Poland, Ecowood (1994) and Interwood (1996).

The flotation of Beter Bed Holding N.V. took place in December 1996. Shares of Beter Bed Holding N.V. are traded at the Amsterdam Stock Exchange. In the same year another company was added to the holding by the acquisition of Dormaël, a company that operates in the higher segment of the bedroom furniture market. The following year Beter Baby was founded, with the goal to gain market shares in the trade with bedroom furniture for babies and small children. At the same time Beter Bed N.V. acquired DFC Comfort ensuring the sole right of representation for orthopedic mattresses and pillows by this company within the Benelux.

In order to comply with the planned expansion and the resulting requirements the company moved to a new location in January 1997, consisting of a larger administrative building and a distribution centre with a surface of 16,000 m², after construction time of one year.

In the second half of the 1990s the subsidiary Bedden Dump was founded to sell items taken from the Beter Bed range via temporary stores. It was decided in 2002 to expand this formula into a discount chain for bedroom furniture according to a cash and carry concept, targeting the lower market segment. In 2005 this company was renamed BeddenReus.

In 1998 the company expanded into Germany by opening the first two stores in Essen and Dortmund. Also in 1998 Beter Bed N.V. acquired the German company Matratzen Concord whose headquarters are based in Cologne. At the same time Matratzen Concord began its expansion into Austria and Switzerland (1998), as well as the Netherlands (1999), France and Italy (2000). Also in 1998, Mark and Pieter Diks, the holding's founding brothers, sold a large amount of their shares in the company, reducing their commitment to 18%.

The holding's structure began to change in 1999. One of the founding brothers, Pieter Diks, sold his remaining shares and retired from the management. Mark Diks again reduced his share in the company in May 2000 but remained for the time being in the management team. Also in 2000 the production facility Bedden und Bedden was sold off and the subsidiary Dormaël was converted into a franchising formula. Following a management buyout Beter Baby was sold off. In August 2000, it was announced that the Blokker family had acquired 15% of Beter Bed's shares.

Mark Diks resigned as CEO and became a member of the supervisory board of the holding in January 2001. At the same time Frans Geelen became new CEO, having joined Beter Bed in August 2000 and after having served as a member of the board of directors of C&A Europe since 1996.

In 2001 all activities of the subsidiary DFC Comfort were discontinued and a new company DBC International was founded. DBC International is active in the development, marketing and selling of mattresses developed under its own direction.

At the end of 2001 Beter Bed N.V. had a total of 555 stores.

In the first half of 2002 investment fund NeSBIC attempted to take over Beter Bed N.V. by offering €16 for every share sold to it. In view of the inadequate offer and simultaneous insecurity with regards to the financial backing, the project ultimately failed. At the same time the remaining founder, Mark Diks, sold his remaining shares and subsequently withdrew from the supervisory board.

Matratzen Concord closed all its stores in Italy and France in 2003 due to disappointing sales figures and the lack of short-term prospects.

Beter Bed's strategy changed during this period, returning to its core activities, the trading and selling of bedroom furniture and accessories and turning away from producing its own goods. As a consequence, in May 2005 the last remaining factory in Poland, Interwood, was sold, the second factory in Poland, Ecowood, had already been closed down in 2004. By the end of 2004 some but not all of the Dormaël stores had gone into receivership, Consequently, in June 2005 the first Slaagenoten stores, a company created by merging most of the remaining vending points of Dormaël, founded in 2000 as a franchise formula, were opened. However, some of these still operate under the name of Dormaël. In September of the same year the Spanish chain El Gigante del Colchón was acquired by Beter Bed N.V. At the time El Gigante del Colchón had 20 stores in the region of Barcelona. At the end of 2008 the company had grown to 47 stores, covering the whole of Catalonia, and expanded into the region of Madrid.

In December 2005 all activities of the subsidiary Beter Bed Deutschland were terminated. The locations were integrated into Matratzen Concord.

In October 2006 a second strategy for selling mattresses in Germany was introduced with the founding of the new subsidiary MAV Matratzen-Abverkauf. Two stores were opened in 2006. At the end of 2008 the company had grown to 30 stores. The activities of MAV Matratzen-Abverkauf were concentrated in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia while, at the same time, attempting to expand southwards into Baden-Württemberg.

In September 2007, the first stores of Matratzen Concord were opened in Belgium. By the end of June 2009 the number of stores there has grown to five with the intention to open more in the future.

In the second half of 2008 the first Matratzen Concord store was opened in the Polish capital of Warsaw under the name of Materace Concord. By January 2010 the number of shops of Materace Concord had risen to three.

On 14 April 2009, CEO Frans Geelen announced his intention to resign from the office as chairman of the board of directors by April 2010 the latest. On 9 October 2009, it was revealed that Ton Anbeek, at the time CEO at Koninklijke Auping bv, would succeed Frans Geelen as of 1 March 2010, the appointment being ratified during an extraordinary general meeting of the shareholders of Beter Bed on 5 November 2009.

On 23 April 2009, it was announced that CFO Ric van der Woude had accepted a position as CFO at Zeeman Groep. On 1 September 2009 his responsibilities were taken over by Duncan van Hoeve as non-statutory Finance Director.

In February 2011, it was reported that Beter Bed B.V. and Dutch mail order company Wehkamp had entered into a strategic partnership with the aim of Beter Bed's core range of products also to be sold through Wehkamp's website.

With the opening of the first Beter Bed store in Olen, Belgium on 29 September 2011, Beter Bed B.V. began to expand into the Belgian market.

During the course of 2012, Matratzen Concord terminated all activities of its Polish subsidiary Materace Concord and closed all four stores. The German company MAV Matratzen-Abverkauf also closed its 15 stores in that year. A new formula, Schlafberater.com, was established in Germany, counting four stores by the end of 2012. By the end of 2013, the four German stores had all closed with one store having been opened in Switzerland. The Swiss store closed during the course of 2014.

On 19 December 2012 it was announced that CFO Duncan van Hoeve would be leaving the company at the end of March 2013. On 1 April 2013 he was succeeded by Bart Koops.

In January 2014 plans were revealed to close all stores of the subsidiary Slaapgenoten during the course of 2014. Furthermore, all Matrassen Concord activities in Belgium also terminated during the same period.

In 2014 Beter Bed entered the French market when it started a pilot under the name Literie Concorde. At the end of 2015 this formula operated two stores. The operations in France are to be expanded with the opening of another five to ten stores within the next year.

It was disclosed in September 2015 that Beter Bed was to acquire the Austrian retailer BettenMax with the intention of turning the existing BettenMax stores into stores of Matratzen Concord. This increased the number of Matratzen Concord stores in Austria to 86, making Matratzen Concord market leader in that country. The acquisition was finalised on 22 October 2015.

On 3 June 2016 Beter Bed announced its take-over of Swedish retailer Sängjätten. Sängjätten has 16 stores of their own and nine franchise partners. On 20 June the acquisition was completed.

Assets

As of 31 December 2015, Beter Bed N.V. is the holding company of a number of retailers operating in several European countries.

Objectives

Whereas in 2001 the objectives of Beter Bed N.V. were defined as aiming at fast and profitable expansion in the fragmented European bedroom furniture market whereby the various subsidiaries were supposed to endeavour to become market leaders in those countries they were active in on the one hand, and by developing own brand products which were to be sold by the company's own retail chains as well as through other distribution channels on the other hand, the objectives since then have become more specific and detailed. The company now aims to strengthen further its alleged market leadership in Europe by positioning itself in such a way to make use of any possibility of growth. Also, even though a temporary decrease in net profit is considered to be possible under exceptional circumstances, one of the goals is still to increase net profit regardless of market conditions. Additionally, Beter Bed claims that the basis for all its actions is to follow the'customer is king' principle which would enable it to further strengthen its position as the European market leader, and that always in a socially responsible manner. A further objective is a strong, healthy balance sheet with solvency of at least 30% and a ratio between net interest-bearing debt and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization not exceeding two. Finally, Beter Bed will continue to publish progress reports annually related to its corporate social responsibility policy.

Strategy

Beter Bed Holding's describes its strategy for the realisation of these objectives by ensuring like for like growth in revenue at comparable store by increasing the number of visitors and improving conversion rates and average order values. The distinctive features of the retail formulas are to be enhanced by developing own marketing and product concepts based on purchasing strength. The bulk of mattresses sold by Beter Bed Holding are to be tested for the presence of hazardous substances in order to keep health hazards for customers and damage to the environment to a minimum. Separate websites and strategic partnerships are to be further developed. The existing concepts for stores are to be expanded, particularly outside the Netherlands. Cost control is to be achieved by low investment per store and flexibility in the leases, a general stringent cost policy, aimed at reducing costs and an increase in the number of initiatives in order to make energy consumption at Beter Bed Holding in the various countries more energy-efficient each year. The company's information technology systems are to be utilised to improve organisational processes continually which should enable Beter Bed N.V. to respond quickly to new trends and to make capacity adjustments in the event of changed market conditions. Effective and efficient supply chain management from purchasing up to and including home delivery is to be further optimised. Packaging materials, particularly plastics and cardboard, are to be removed when delivering products. In future, these materials are to be segregated at the various distribution centres and presented for recycling. Sales methods and sales advice is to be improved through in-company training. Finally, by 2016 Beter Bed Holding aims for at least 25 percent of management positions at the company to be held by women.

Management board

The management board of Beter Bed N.V. consists of the chief executive officer and the chief financial officer.

Supervisory board

The supervisory board has four members.

Substantial holdings

About 78.8% of shares are held by nine companies. The remaining 21.2% are free floating.