Discount Textile Retail Chain Wibra has compared to 2021, 2022 "a financially good year". The corona restrictions were limited to the first two weeks of that year – after which the shops were allowed to reopen. And customers could finally turn to Wibra again for the "Dasty": Wibra's immensely popular miracle cleaning private label product category.
As CEO Bas Duijsens told RetailTrends: "What the smoked sausage is to HEMA, Dasty is to Wibra." The annual accounts filed last week put it a little drier: "The economic conditions ensured that customers were increasingly finding the Wibra."
€42 million more revenue than a year earlier
With 215 stores in the Netherlands and 50 in Belgium, Wibra closed 2022 with a turnover of almost €171 million, compared to €129 million a year earlier. Annual profit amounted to €6.5 million, compared to €5.2 million in 2021. By comparison, in 2020 Wibra managed to squeeze out a profit of €1.6 million. Anyway, then that chain had to deal with the corona lockdowns. This even led to the bankruptcy of the Belgian branch, which was eventually able to relaunch in a slimmed-down manner.
After tough years, great results are now again for the retail chain that is known for its women's clothing, often with glitter, household items and cleaning products. Wibra competes with textile discount stores such as Action and Zeeman.
Ron Wierdsma sold his Wibra to the management
2022 was not only a special year for Wibra from a financial point of view. In February of that year, the shares of the family business from Epe (the Netherlands), founded in 1956, came into the hands of outsiders.
Ron Wierdsma, son of founder Jo Wierdsma, did not want to sell his company to a private equity firm or industry peer. He preferred a management buy-in and so it happened: the three-man board, including Bas Duijsens, took a majority stake.
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