Box Layout

HTML Layout
Backgroud Images
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
Backgroud Pattern
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest
  • greenforest

They started selling coal, their creator had a tragic end and today they lead the wholesale business: the Makro story

During the first months of the pandemic, and even in the following months, self-service wholesalers became the true protagonists of purchases. Its prices and volume captivated consumers over the supermarket shelves. Within this category, one of its main players is the Makro chain, whose parent company is the Dutch SHV Holdings. The origins of this group are far from the retail business.

The true birth of the holding occurred in 1896 when eight merchants from the coal industry decided to join forces to set up their own purchasing and distribution venture. Thus they founded Steenkolen Handels Vereeniging (Coal Trading Association, in Dutch) and grew within this business.

One of those eight families was the Fentener van Vlissinger, who still run the company today. Currently its chairman is Annemiek Fentener van Vlissinger, fifth generation in charge.

Time to diversify

From the coal business they turned to energy with a network of service stations under the name Pam within the European market. However, around the 1960s, the collapse of the coal market as a result of the discovery of large natural gas reserves led them to further diversify. It was at that moment that they decided to venture into the wholesale business, which had begun to take its first steps under the self-service model - called cash and carry - a few years earlier in Germany.

Although they were not the first, the German group Metro was one of those that popularized this system. In particular, the head behind it was Otto Beishelm, its managing director. Therefore, to launch their retail brand, SHV partnered with Metro and they opened the first Makro store in 1968 in Amsterdam.

They started selling coal, their creator had a tragic end and today they lead the wholesale business: the Makro story

The key to the model was that the branch also functioned as a warehouse. Then several intermediaries were eliminated and the prices could be cheaper. The main focus of the business was on the professional segment, from restaurant chains to hotels and cafes. Soon, the partnership between SHV and Metro grew with openings throughout Europe, sometimes under the Makro banner and other times as Metro.

Beishelm became one of the best-known magnates in Germany, although his history was tarnished after the discovery that, during the Nazi era, he was part of the National Socialist paramilitary organization, Waffen SS. In 2013 he committed suicide at the age of 89 after being diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Arrival in Argentina

Makro arrived in the region in 1972 with its landing in Brazil, while it opened its doors in the country in 1988. In 1997, the Dutch holding sold the entire business of the wholesale brand in Europe and Asia to its German partners and chose to focus its efforts on Latin America.

Over the years it also added branches in Colombia, Venezuela and Peru - it was detached in 2020 - and currently manages more than 100 stores. In Argentina it operates 23 points of sale.

In addition to this unit, SHV expanded its business portfolio in the last decade. It acquired a financier, NPM Capital; a crane and heavy load transport company, Memmoet; and a firm dedicated to animal nutrition, Nutreco.

Meanwhile, the country has an investment plan that involves between two and three openings per year until 2025. At the end of 2020, it opened a store in Benavidez with a disbursement of $850 million. Within the category, he competes against other heavyweights such as Maxiconsumo (belongs to the Fera family, which also owns Marolio), Vital and Yaguar.

  • Tags:
  • who sells carbon brand clothing

Related Articles

'The ambassador's daughter': everything about the premiere of the Nova series

A girl named Melek arrives in her living room and finds a dead man. Her mother, in the bathroom, cleans the blood from her clothes and her face, in addition, she keeps a knife along with the rest of the things in ...

Criticism rains down on Balenciaga for a diver with holes that sells for more than 1,000 euros

Exclusive ContentThe article you are trying to access is exclusively for subscribersSubscribe Find out about our plans and enjoy El País without limits.Enter If you are already a subscriber you can enter with...

 Mexico wins 6 medals in the Mathematics Olympiad When and where to watch the Mexico vs.  Gold Cup Honduras Celta will create three new schools in Mexico

This Friday we have information about the Mexican champions in Mathematics, Roberto Palazuelos' clothing brand, Celta's new soccer schools and more.Mexico wins 6 medals at the Olim...

 Bicycle Derailleur Adjustment |  Causes and solutions for a maladjusted change

Adjusting the bicycle derailleur can be something very simple if we know what we are doing, or it can become a real headache for not knowing how to find the key or, why not, because...