Mirage Retail Group

Last updated

Mirage Retail Group
FounderJacob Blokker
Headquarters
OwnerMichiel Witteveen
Subsidiaries Blokker Intertoys, Bart Smit, Big Bazar, Intertoys, Leen Bakker, Marskramer, Xenos, BCC, Maxi Toys, Toys XL,Intertoys Xl, Miniso,elktroblok,Gamestore e-plaza
Website www.blokkerholding.nl
Blokker-store in Boxmeer Blokker Boxmeer.JPG
Blokker-store in Boxmeer
Intertoys-store in Boxmeer Intertoys Boxmeer.JPG
Intertoys-store in Boxmeer
Bart Smit-store in Emmen Bart Smit - Emmen.jpg
Bart Smit-store in Emmen

Mirage Retail Group (formerly Blokker Holding) is a Dutch company that owns several chains of stores. [1]

Contents

Blokker Holding is active in twelve countries and in 2010 all the chains combined had 2825 stores. In 2015 the company had a revenue of 2.1 billion euro, of which 98 million euros from online retail. [2] Most store chains have both stores they own and stores that are franchised to other investors.

In 2017, Intertoys was sold to private equity firm Alteri Investors for an undisclosed sum. Blokker Holding also stated that it would sell Xenos and Leen Bakker. [3] On 22 January 2019, Blokker Holding sold Maxi Toys to Green Swan, a Portuguese investment firm. [4] On 21 February 2019, Intertoys was declared bankrupt after being unable to restructure after a suspension of payments. [5] On 8 March 2019, Intertoys was sold to Green Swan, although Blokker would later acquire Maxi Toys and Intertoys from the company just months later. [6] [7]

Blokker Holding has not entered the stock exchange. [1] In 2019, the Blokker Family sold the holding company to Michiel Witteveen. Witteveen became the CEO and sold less profitable chains. In July 2019, Blokker Holding would be rebranded to Mirage Retail Group to avoid confusion between the holding company and the store chain. [8]

Blokker stores in Belgium and Luxembourg were sold to Dutch Retail Group and were subsequently rebranded to Mega World. [9] Maxi Toys was sold to King Jouet in August 2020 after the chain was facing bankruptcy. [10] On 29 September 2020, the company acquired BCC from Fnac Darty. [11] By December 2020, Mega World was declared bankrupt and announced that they would close all of their stores by 2021. The company claimed it was insolvent due to it being "over-indebted." [12]

In September 2021, the company announced plans for an IPO by 2022. [13] These plans were postponed by December 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [14] By March 2023, Mirage Retail Group had scrapped its plans for an IPO. [15]

On 22 September 2023, BCC was declared bankrupt just weeks after Mirage Retail Group stated that they were planning to sell the company. [16] On 26 September 2023, just days after BCC was declared bankrupt, Big Bazar was also declared bankrupt, blaming substantial losses and a failed rescue attempt as a result of the decision. The company had also failed to pay employees during all of September 2023. [17]

On 28 October 2024, Intertoys was once again sold, this time to ToyChamp. [18] On 14 November 2024, Blokker was declared bankrupt, blaming years of losses as a result of the decision. Administrators planned to sell existing stock and assets of the company as well as selling a portion of the company. The company announced the closure of nearly all of its locations, with less than 50 stores remaining open by the beginning of 2025. [19] On 9 December 2024, Mirage Retail Group was also declared bankrupt. [20] In February 2025, Mirage Retail Group put Miniso Netherlands up for sale. [21]

In May 2025, Blokker announced they would reopen 30 to 40 previously closed locations after they were acquired by businessman Roland Palmer in January. [22]

Companies

The following companies are part of Blokker Holding:

Store chainFoundedBranchesIn the GroupCountriesSegmentNotes
Big Bazar 2007161Sinds 2007Netherlands, BelgiumsHomewareDiscount formula
Blokker 1896413Netherlands, SurinameHomeware, garden needs, multimedia, toysCore of the Mirage Retail Group; More than 20% of the branches are franchise. Founded on 25 April 1896 in Hoorn by Jacob (the grandfather of Jaap Blokker) and Saapke Blokker. Stores in Belgium and Luxemburg were sold in February 2020 to Dirk Bron.
Budget201242NetherlandsHomeware, perfumery/drugstore articles, sweetsPull-up stores for the sell of dump and excess articles
Elektroblok 19621since 1962NetherlandsHomewareWholesale, mostly supplying to customers in the Netherlands
Miniso [23] 20192Since 2019NetherlandsHomewareMirage Retail Group has franchise rights for the Netherlands
Intertoys 1976301Netherlands, Belgium, GermanyToysSold in 2017 to Alteri Indigo Luxembourg S.À R.L. Bought back in 2019. [24]
Maxi Toys 176Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Turkey, MoroccoToys

Former formulas:

NameFoundedNumber of storesActive inSegmentNotes
Bart Smit 1967234Netherlands, Belgium, LuxembourgToysSold in 2017 to Alteri Indigo Luxembourg S.À R.L. who merged it into Intertoys. Intertoys was bought back.
Casa 517France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Switzerland, Portugal, ItalyFurniture and interior decorating
Cook&Co 200527NetherlandsFood and dishwareCreated from a merger of Holland Handels Huis and Hoyng. These stores were closed
Leen Bakker 1928179Netherlands, Belgium, LuxembourgFurniture and interior decorating
Marskramer 1940206NetherlandsHousehold appliancesSold to the Audax Groep
Novy 199725NetherlandsHousehold appliancesDaughter company of Marskramer, sold to the Audax Groep
Toys2Play 2002Can be found in Marskramer, Novy and Prima storesNetherlandsToysDaughter company of Marskramer, sold to the Audax Groep
Trend Centre 19781-- Wholesale of Blokker Holding located in Amsterdam
Xenos 1973252Netherlands, GermanyFood, Household appliances, interior decorating

Blokker Holding also operated:

References

  1. 1 2 Winkelier Jaap Blokker regelt eigen opvolging Archived 10 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine , De Telegraaf, 2010-10-07
  2. Annual report 2015
  3. "Dutch retail chain Intertoys sold to Alteri Investors". Reuters. 12 October 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  4. "Blokker sells Maxi Toys to a Portuguese investment fund". Retail Detail. 22 January 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  5. "Toy store chain Intertoys bankrupt". Retail Detail. 21 February 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  6. "Intertoys sold to Green Swan". Private Equity News. 8 March 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  7. "Intertoys back in the hands of its Dutch owner, as Green Swan sells". Dutch News. 8 September 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  8. "Blokker Holding renamed to Mirage Retail to avoid confusion". Retail Detail. 23 July 2019. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  9. "Blokker stores 'will disappear completely' from Belgium". The Brussels Times. 18 February 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  10. "Maxi Toys acquired by King Jouet". Toy World Magazine. 12 August 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  11. "Blokker owner Mirage Retail Group acquires electronics chain BCC from Fnac Darty". Retail Detail. 29 September 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  12. "Mega World declared bankrupt". Retail Detail. 22 December 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  13. "Change at the top of Blokker owner Mirage Retail Group". Retail Detail. 27 September 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  14. "Parent company of Blokker will not go forward with IPO". NL Times. 4 December 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  15. "No IPO for Blokker and Intertoys after all". Retail Detail. 16 March 2023. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  16. "Electronics retailer BCC declared bankrupt; 1,000 jobs to disappear". NL Times. 22 September 2023. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  17. "Court declares Big Bazar bankrupt as workers go unpaid; 1,300 lose their jobs". NL Times. 29 September 2023. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  18. "Belgian toy retail chain ToyChamp buys Intertoys' Dutch shops". Belgan News Agency. 28 October 2024. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  19. "Blokker bankrupt in Netherlands, search for solution starts". Retail Detail. 14 November 2024. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  20. "Blokker parent company Mirage Retail Group files for bankruptcy". NL Times. 9 December 2024. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  21. "Bargain chain Miniso's Dutch stores could be up for grabs after Blokker bankruptcy". NL Times. 18 February 2025. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  22. "Blokker to reopen 30 to 40 stores months after bankruptcy". NL Times. 2 May 2025. Retrieved 5 August 2025.
  23. Winkelketen Miniso rukt op: Nederland gek op Aziatische 'prullaria'? RTL
  24. "Eigenaar Blokker koopt Intertoys terug van Portugezen". 7 September 2019.