Our Beekwilder history
1896 - 1923
1896
Birth of Frans Beekwilder (son of a goldsmith) - the founder of the family business, also called Grandpa Beekwilder!
1910
At the age of 14, Frans Beekwilder is apprenticed to an engraver and becomes a placard writer due to his fascination with the possibilities of fonts. Frans Beekwilder goes on to work at major department stores such as ‘De Fransche Bazar',' Gebr. Gerzon' and 'de Bijenkorf'. He developed into an expert in the field of fonts and was an window dressing examiner.
1923
Window displays and decorating become culturally popular and receive a lot of attention after the First World War. Frans Beekwilder sees the potential and starts a supply company for window dressing materials called A.R.O. (General Advertising Company) Frans Beekwilder. The first location is on the Singel next to Koepelkerk in Amsterdam. The range consists mainly of cardboard, paint and brushes.
1950- 1962
1950
During the fifties, the traditional materials fade into the background and the range expands greatly, especially the emergence of new materials such as plastics.
1960
In early 1960, Frans Beekwilder dies. His widow, Mrs. J. A. Beekwilder-Janse takes over the company, which is not easy with two young children. The company has four employees at the time, but already has a wide range and is purchasing internationally.
1962
In this year employees are already travelling behind the 'Iron Curtain' to former East Germany and Czechoslovakia to buy beautiful well-made materials to expand the range.
1970 - 1980
1970
Around 1970, son Rob Beekwilder and his wife Annemieke Beekwilder-Hooghiemstra take over the management from his mother. Almost from its inception Beekwilder has been active in direct marketing and a significant part of the turnover is achieved through leaflets; the first complete catalogue in 1970 is a resounding success.
1972 tot 1980
During these years the adjacent buildings at the Prins Hendrikkade in Amsterdam become the new headquarters of Frans Beekwilder BV.
1989 - 1998
1989
As the company is growing ever larger and more space is needed to present the materials and complete range of stock, the premises are moved to a new building in Amsterdam Sloterdijk. From now on all sea containers are unloaded with items bought in bulk from Asia.
1992
During this year the buildings at Prins Hendrikkade are totally renovated by monument specialist Prof. Joop van Stigt. The four separate buildings are merged into one large building and rearranged.
1998
The warehouse at Sloterdijk is too small for the storage of all materials and items. The Beekwilder Distribution Centre in Diemen therefore comes into operation. This gigantic storage area of 10,000m2 professionalizes our logistics services and improves the handling of incoming goods even more.
2002 - 2008
2002
The first online activity of Beekwilder starts in August 2002 with a professional store. In 2014 a new site follows, designed according to the latest techniques and focusing on our broad client base.
2007
The Beekwilder Instore Academy is established. Born from the need of customers to improve their in-store profits, the Academy organizes workshops and tailor-made display and presentation courses. The aim is for employees on the shop floor to make optimum use of decoration and presentation materials. However, we also teach entrepreneurs, schools and freelancers about presentation and visual merchandising.
2008
First ‘Window of the Year’ awards! Window dressing is a profession and the window is the business card of the store. Beekwilder encourages the preservation of skills and knowledge and on this basis organizes this annual competition. Each year, an independent jury is involved and the public is invited to vote online. Click here for photos of the events and entries.
2010 - present day
2010
On January 1, 2010, Rob Beekwilder and Annemieke Beekwilder-Hooghiemstra hand over the management of Frans Beekwilder BV to Inge Wiersema (employed by Beekwilder since 1983) and daughter Elsemieke Beekwilder.
2019
On January 1, 2019, Elsemieke Beekwilder hands over the management of Frans Beekwilder BV to Inge Wiersema.
2023
Beekwilder is celebrating its 100th anniversary! A special milestone. It is an exciting year, Beekwilder will say goodbye to its location on the Prins Hendrikkade in Amsterdam at the end of 2023. At the same time, we are proud to announce that we will move to Diemen in early 2024, where the logistics location and the modern showroom will be centralized.
Our new building in Diemen offers many advantages, such as better accessibility for customers and a completely new showroom, where we can offer customers even more inspiration and impact. In addition, the new building meets the highest sustainability standards and because the warehouse and office will be located under one roof, we can organize our logistics processes more efficiently.
Present day
The company occupies over 3000m2 of showrooms, shops, offices and its own distribution center in Diemen. Our clients are diverse in sector and size, and in addition to delivering items the company takes the project off the hands of many customers and arranges everything from A to Z. Beekwilder does business in more than 20 countries and has permanent support offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai.
