Wibra (Dutch Discount Store-Chain)

Wibra, short for Wierdsma & Braam, is a Dutch discount store-chain. It sells mostly textile and clothing, but also other products. Wibra operated in 2014 over 290 stores with 2700 employees in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Wibra (Dutch Discount Store-Chain)

Wibra (Cadena de Tiendas de Descuento Holandesa)

Wibra (niederländische Discounterkette)

Wibra（荷兰折扣店连锁店）

Wibra was founded in 1956, when Johannes Ignatius (Jo) Wierdsma (1921-1997) took over the shop in Epe from his parents-in-law, the Braam family, originally from Deventer. Wierdsma opened the first textile supermarket in the Netherlands with Wibra. It became a simply furnished shop that served the lower end of the market.
In the sixties of the twentieth century, Wibra grew into a chain of eleven stores. The company joined the “club of nine” in the following years. That club consisted of comparable entrepreneurs, including Scholten, Ter Stal and Zeeman. These companies divided the market so that they did not get in each other’s way in terms of competition. This division disappeared when Wibra and Zeeman bought a number of the other companies.

Wibra (Chaîne de Magasins Discount Néerlandais)

Wibra (голландская сеть дисконтных магазинов)

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Wibra (Nederlandse Discountketen)

In addition to textiles and clothing, Wibra soon also sold other items. The share of “all kinds” has grown considerably over the years. Initially this was a side sale, but later the share of “all kinds” became just as large as textiles and clothing. In 1991 Wierdsma wrote the booklet “A lifetime of deliberation and weighing”, about the retail chain Wibra and its activities. He died on January 28, 1997. His sons Arnoud, René and Ronald opted for a change and professionalised the store chain. Wibra kept a cheap image because of the low prices and the appearance of the store. In 1998 Wibra took over Scholten and became market leader in cheap textile, with a revenue of 400 million guilders.