Former shoe factory Van Haren
vanHaren a household name in the Netherlands. In 1929, Ivo van Haren started making shoes in Waalwijk. Now, over 95 years later, vanHaren is one of the largest shoe retailers in the Netherlands. You can find vanHaren in almost 150 stores throughout the country and online. After all these years, the heart of vanHaren is still in Waalwijk where the head office and logistics center are located.
Father Johannes van Haren owned a small clog/shoe factory in Beneden-Le...
vanHaren a household name in the Netherlands. In 1929, Ivo van Haren started making shoes in Waalwijk. Now, over 95 years later, vanHaren is one of the largest shoe retailers in the Netherlands. You can find vanHaren in almost 150 stores throughout the country and online. After all these years, the heart of vanHaren is still in Waalwijk where the head office and logistics center are located.
Father Johannes van Haren owned a small clog/shoe factory in Beneden-Leeuwen and in 1913 he and his three sons started a leather business in Baardwijk/Waalwijk. Son Ivo van Haren started his own leather business in 1923 which made him a small fortune and in 1927 the Ivo van Haren shoe factory was established. Unique at the time, the factory started producing exclusively for its own shoe stores. By 1937, vanHaren had 1,400 employees with a weekly production of 21,000 pairs of shoes. Their strong point was their unit prices. During the war, the factory at Hoogeinde was occupied by the Germans who partially blew it up at the end of the war. vanHaren recovered after the war with the construction of new factories and expanded its stores. vanHaren offered and still offers many people work and income.
In 1985, the family business was acquired by the German company Deichman schuhe. Today, the former vanHaren factory at Hoogeinde has made way for a design store and vanHaren's head office and a large distribution center are located on the Waalwijk arterial road.
