C&A
Subtitle: a family business in Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, 1911-1961
By: Mark Spoerer ; translated by Jefferson Chase, Patricia C. Sutcliffe and Patricia Szobar
Publisher: C.H. Beck
Published: 2016
Place of publication: Munich
Language: eng
Translated from: ger
Number of pages: 480
ISBN-13: 9783406698262; 9783406698279
Copyright date: 2016
Subjects: History; Clothing trade; Family-owned business enterprises; Succession; C&A (Textile firm)
Other titles: Family business in Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom,1911-1961
Work titles: C&A
Description: The history of C&A is paradigmatic of the economisation and rationalisation of the production and sale of clothing since the late nineteenth century. Mark Spoerer describes the historical ups and downs of this Dutch family business from its beginnings in Germany through to the post-war German "economic miracle". He investigates how the Brenninkmeijer family's traditional policy of recruiting new business leaders from its own ranks influences the company's long-term strategy. In 1841, the brothers Clemens and August Brenninkmeijer, who had gotten their start in the itinerant garment trade in Westphalia, founded a business in the Netherlands that would expand to Germany in 1911 and to Britain in 1922. Despite the difficulties the Brenninkmeijers encountered as foreigners, capitalists and Catholics in the Third Reich, they exploited those chances opened up by the Nazi regime, including the 'Aryanisation' of property. After 1945, the company experienced furious growth with the rise of a new consumer society, developed into one of Europe's largest fashion retailers.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (pages 452-469) and index.