Discover Benelux | Dutch Design | Made in the Netherlands
Taking over the world of foldable and stackable furniture TEXT: JULIËN L’ORTYE | PHOTOS: MEBU
Foldable and stackable furniture: It does not necessarily sound glamorous, right? That is what Imre Huijgen and her husband Dennis van Iersel were thinking at first when Huijgen’s father came up with the idea of taking over Mebu, this industry’s European market leader. However, the three had been thinking about taking over some kind of business for a while then and were already looking at a broad range of products, from casino lighting to top-notch fireplaces, but foldable furniture had not come to their minds yet. Nonetheless they were quite intrigued by it, so they decided to go ahead. Imre: “We really wanted to take over a company that was making something tangible, a ‘tough’ product, with a potential for international growth.” What is so impressive about Mebu, is the fact 32 | Issue 46 | October 2017
that they are able to keep every part of the production process in-house. Thanks to an efficient way of working, plus moving to a new building, the three (plus their team, of course) can easily compete with for example massive factories in the Far East. Imre: “A lot of our competitors’ products are often produced over there, but those products do not live up to the expectations of European buyers. As we can deliver everything from our own stock, we can offer the same prices as in the Far East, with European quality and service.” Van Iersel adds: “When someone has a problem with for example the cap of a table leg, we will just send them a whole bag of caps. He will probably not even need them, but that is part of our service as well.” Coming from three completely different lines of work – Imre was doing sales at an
employment bureau, Van Iersel was dealing with the operational part of a company, while father Alex had a management function at one of world’s biggest LPG (Liquid Petroleum Gas) companies – every one of them had decided that they wanted to do something completely different. When they ended up at Mebu, they were aware of the company’s stable market position – market leader in the Benelux – but in the meantime, they have expanded their business to Germany, other parts of Europe and even the USA. And as for the company’s future goals? “What is very important to us, is international growth. Currently, our growth is organic, but we are looking to grow by acquisition as well,” reveals Van Iersel. Web: www.mebu.info