De Telegraaf article: Kooistra.com helps regional Blokker franchisees restart

- (https://kooistra.com/2025/01/15/)

_10 Jan. 2025 in FINANCIAL_

AMSTERDAM – In recent weeks, Blokker franchisees Alwin Piest and Carlo Thijssen have gone from running single shops in the provinces to leading a chain of 45 independent Blokker stores. They play a crucial role in the restart of Blokker. “Everything has to be built up again from scratch.”

For the umpteenth time, Alwin Piest has driven from Leek in the Westerkwartier area of Groningen to Blokker’s head office in Amsterdam. His fellow entrepreneur Carlo Thijssen comes from Made in North Brabant. Both men have run a Blokker shop for their own account in their home towns for more than ten years.

Since the bankruptcy, Thijssen and Piest, as leaders of the independent retailers, have practically lived at the head office, where the receiver took charge.

Their shops stayed open. “But we hardly saw the shop floor in December,” says Thijssen. Piest adds: “While the receiver was busy selling off the stock of the 400 branches to pay the creditors, the franchisees were filling their own warehouses with stock from the distribution centre in Geldermalsen.”

A lot of goodwill among Blokker’s suppliers

That stock was not enough to get through the busy month of December without empty shelves. Thijssen and Piest therefore made arrangements with sixty suppliers of pans, bins and dish racks. Piest: “Not every supplier was able to help us. There is quite a difference between delivering ten thousand products to one location and two hundred units to 45 different addresses. Each with its own invoices and payment terms.”

“The fact that it worked out is quite an achievement. It is also because there is a great deal of goodwill among the suppliers. They don’t want to lose Blokker either.”

Frisian stock buyer Eric Kooistra

The shops also need restocking time and again. It helps that the Frisian stock buyer Eric Kooistra closed a deal a month ago for 200 containers of Blokker products. He risked not being paid for them because his ships were still at sea when Blokker went bankrupt.

Kooistra: “We were able to strike a good deal with the franchisees. We will supply the shops over the coming year. Normally we prefer to bring large lots to large buyers, but we are happy to make an exception here. Blokker belongs to all of us in a way. And when Palmer is ready to start with his shops, he can join in too.”

Under the deal with the stock buyer, products carrying the Blokker own brand will not end up in discount stores. “For us it is also a chance to move on products we buy up,” says Kooistra.

Approached by dozens of entrepreneurs as well

The franchise association has also been approached by dozens of entrepreneurs who would like to take over a closed branch of the chain and continue for their own account. That would help make joint purchasing and distribution for a new Blokker profitable.

Alwin Piest is positive about this. “I think there are around twenty promising candidates among them. Palmer has said he likes the idea of working with us, and if he manages to restart something similar himself, I see a very good future for this company.”