De Bijenkorf seeks new CEO after just six months

After less than six months, Matthijs Visch is already is stepping down as De Bijenkorf CEO. The Dutch chain of department stores now has to look for a new manager once again.

For a new phase of growth

De Bijenkorf is once again facing a change at the helm of the company, CEO André Maeder of parent company Selfridges announced in an internal communication to staff. “Matthijs and I agree that this decision is in the best interests of De Bijenkorf and Matthijs personally”, it read. The CEO has stepped down because of personal reasons, Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reports. The manager had already been out of the office for some time.

Visch took over from Giovanni Colauto last summer, who left after twelve years in charge. Under Colauto’s leadership, De Bijenkorf transformed itself into a high-end brand, resulting in the closure of five branches and an emphasis on exclusivity. Although this strategy has helped to stabilise the company after it suffered strong losses in 2020 and 2021, it remains financially difficult. In 2023, the group posted only a modest profit.

Before joining De Bijenkorf, Visch ran the Patagonia brand and worked at Nike. His appointment was presented at the time as an opportunity to lead De Bijenkorf into a new phase of growth. De Bijenkorf is part of the Selfridges group, which was recently acquired by the Thai Central group. In October, a 40 % stake was sold to Saudi fund PIF.