The C&A Retail Chain in Germany, the Netherlands and the UK, 1911-1961: Design of a Research Project and First Findings

Since roughly 20 years, business history has been booming in Germany. I will describe some general trends in recent German business history and then present my current project on the history of C. & A. Brenninkmeyer 1911-61 which has started in late 2012. Around the core project three dissertation projects are placed. Their subjects are (1) the German retail trade in textiles ca. 1900-1975, the (2) German apparel industry c. 1900-1975 and (3) marketing in the textiles retail trade c. 1920-1975.

The history of C & A is remarkable in at least three respects: (1) right from the start C&A is a multinational business, (2) it is run as a family firm and (3) the family is holding high religious (catholic) values.

The Business History Seminar is organised by the Business History Centre and has been made possible by financial support from the Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM) and the Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication.