Blokker decapitated: CEO Holding and CEO Belgium resign

The end seems near for Dutch store chain and holding Blokker, after group CEO Casper Meijer and CEO for Belgium and Luxembourg Bernd Bosch announced their departure. Meijer will stay on till June, while Bosch has quit with immediate effect.

Difference in vision for the future

Meijer’s departure was announced in a press release talking about “difference in vision between the shareholders, the Board of Commissioners and himself about the changes’ speed and the underlying financial results.” Meijer will stay on for two months to help his successor, chairman Michel Witteveen, settle in.

The holding decided last year to sell every chain aside from its eponymous Blokker chain, but the board seems dissatisfied with the speed this transformation is taking place, according to the press release. Meijer has worked for Blokker since 2015 and was its chairman for slightly more than two years. He took on the job of chairman of the board of the Blokker chain in August 2017, a position that will now also transfer to Witteveen.

Altered strategy

Blokker Belgium-Luxembourg CEO, Bernd Bosch, resigned yesterday. He also removed every link to the Dutch company on his LinkedIn profile as well.

RetailDetail founder Jorg Snoeck is not surprised: he sees it as a precursor of the “results Blokker will (have to) present in the next few weeks.” Casa’s acquisition of the best performing Xenos stores is an omen, Snoeck feels. “The promise was that, if the first results proved successful, Casa would also acquire the other Xenos stores. If that did not happen, then Casa was able to pick the best stores and Blokker would be left with the weak ones. It will not find a buyer for those, because it is already an over-saturated market.”

Blokker stoll owns five store formulas: Blokker, Maxi Toys, Marskramer, Big Bazar and a part of Xenos. The company is active in eight countries and generates nearly 2 billion euro (in 2016) thanks to 13,000 employees across 1,400 stores. The chain, founded in 1896, said goodbye to the founding family’s final member about a year ago.