http://www.c-and-a.com/uk/en/corporate/ ... s/history/ celebrates its 100th birthday (100 years of retail stores, the company itself has been around longer, selling linen wholesale.
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| Quote: C&A – a success story An idea wins through. Nowadays C&A is part of the cityscape in many parts of Europe. About two million people frequent our branches every day. Yet many of them are unaware of the story that lies behind those two capital letters. This began as early as the 17th century when the forebears of the later company founders, Clemens and August Brenninkmeijer, whose initials still make up the company logo today, traded in linen and textiles across Europe. Two hundred years later, the two brothers continued the ancient family tradition selling fabrics, primarily in Germany and the Netherlands. It was they who founded their company in 1841 in Sneek, Friesland, giving it the name C&A Brenninkmeijer. It was here too that, 20 years later, they opened their first C&A store, marking the beginning of a success story that endures to this day. From Westphalia to Europe It all started in Mettingen. The two founding fathers had a business plan that was as simple as it was revolutionary for those times: they offered good quality, ready-to-wear clothing at affordable prices, introducing standard sizes as well as the customer-friendly option to exchange goods. In this way they set the benchmark in the fashion retail business. Good ideas win through and the number of branches in the Netherlands increased steadily. It was therefore an obvious next step that the heirs of Clemens & August would extend the successful model beyond the borders of Holland. Thus in 1911 the family company opened the first store in Germany, in Berlin. Other stores were to follow later in England. The Second World War put expansion plans on hold. At the beginning of the 1960s, however, the company gained further footholds in Belgium, France and Switzerland. Today, C&A, still managed as a family company, is even represented in China, Brazil and Mexico. These affiliates operate independently of C&A Europe. | |
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They closed down in my area, when I was still a kid, but they are still going strong over here - in fact, they have stores in over 19 countries.
They currently have old English adverts hanging in the stores from the 50s, 60s and 70s, they actually look pretty good.
The clothes themselves also aren't bad. I usually buy socks (Pierre Cardin) from C&A, as well as T-Shirts and jeans.
The clothes are still relatively cheap, but the quality is decent. My last C&A jeans lasted 5 years, the last Brax (4 times the price) only 5 months.
