Pledge of De Hypotheker
This location is part of the Wet Blue route.
In 1914 Jan Spapens builds his Mesco shoe factory on this site, which within a few years grows into one of the larger shoe factories in Waalwijk. The company focuses on the production of luxury shoes, which are sold exclusively in its own stores, spread throughout the country. The global crisis of the 1930s hits Spapens hard. In 1939 the last shoes are made and the factory is put up for sale.
The buildings then house the metalware cum leather goods factory DUO from Amsterdam. DUO is well-known in the bicycle industry, for which the company makes luggage racks, child seats and chain guards.
On Feb. 10, 1945, a ...
This location is part of the Wet Blue route.
In 1914 Jan Spapens builds his Mesco shoe factory on this site, which within a few years grows into one of the larger shoe factories in Waalwijk. The company focuses on the production of luxury shoes, which are sold exclusively in its own stores, spread throughout the country. The global crisis of the 1930s hits Spapens hard. In 1939 the last shoes are made and the factory is put up for sale.
The buildings then house the metalware cum leather goods factory DUO from Amsterdam. DUO is well-known in the bicycle industry, for which the company makes luggage racks, child seats and chain guards.
On February 10, 1945, a V1 impact wipes out the entire Dijk mine located next to the factory. There are 17 fatalities, many people are injured and the damage in the area is extensive. The factory building is also badly damaged. The memorial stone placed at the site in 1995 commemorates this disaster.
Within a few months, the damage was repaired to the point where DUO could resume operations. A short time later, the company went bankrupt, after which furniture dealer Piet Klerkx took over the building in 1947 and, after extensive renovation, housed his furniture factory and showrooms. At the end of 1974, Klerkx moved to the Zanddonk industrial estate, where he opened the first home furnishing boulevard in the Netherlands, which he called Woonwereld.