The Humble Beginnings of C&A

Nowadays C&A is a major clothing and footwear retailer operating hundreds of stores across Europe, Mexico, Brazil and China. However, it all started in the small town of Sneek in Friesland, a province in the north of the Netherlands.

In the early 19th century, the two German brothers Clemens and August Brenninkmeijer traveled each year to Friesland to sell textile and linen to the local farmers. In 1841, they established their first business in Sneek and called it C&A Brenninkmeijer. The company logo has changed since then but still contains the initials of the two brothers Clemens and August.










Clemens and August Brenninkmeijer opened their first shop in an obscure building in the center of Sneek in 1841. The building was expanded in 1877. It is no longer property of C&A and currently houses two new apparel shops.

The very first C&A shop in Sneek, the Netherlands.

An ANWB plaque reminds visitors that the building used to house the first C&A shop in the Netherlands.

The current C&A store in Sneek occupies a larger and fancier building in the town center. It is called 't Hooghuis, literally meaning 'high house' in Dutch.

't Hooghuis in the center of Sneek, the Netherlands.

A bronze sculpture presented as a gift by C&A to the town of Sneek. The sculpture depicts a Westfalian peddler, called lapkepoep in Frisian, and a Frisian peasant woman negotiating over a piece of textile.