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Platform on sun and daylight control, shutters, patio covers and closures
Solid ground underfoot and for 14 years now! In the nineties Adri Dalebout and Sam Kluijfhout were viewed both with suspicion and admiration within the sun protection industry. Who were those daredevils who used a bus equipped as a sun protection showroom to display and sell their products to customers in the street?
Zeeland Onderhoud Service, ZOS for short, started mobile sales of sun blinds and roller shutters in 1997. Originating from a handyman's business, Dalebout and Kluijfhout devoted themselves entirely to selling their products in a unique concept. By now the two gentlemen have had 'solid ground' under their feet for fourteen years and operate from a beautiful showroom in Serooskerke on Walcheren. Time for Z&R to reminisce with Sam Kluijfhout.
A change project implemented by ZOS.
"With our handyman company, we tentatively entered the world of blinds and shutters in 1997," Kluijfhout outlines. "We hung a few screens in our van and sold them, often when we were on a job somewhere. A nice extra revenue opportunity that tasted like more. In 1999 we changed Zeeland Onderhoud Service to ZOS and that's what we're still called today. We switched to a truck fully equipped as a showroom, in which we could demonstrate much more. It even had a working garage door in it!"
Dalebout and Kluijfhout's concept was downright unique at the time. So high-profile, in fact, that a franchise organization later started applying the same idea. "We really were the first to go through the doors with a full showroom," laughs Kluijfhout. "It worked perfectly, sometimes a little too well even. The truck was part showroom and in a separated section we stored our tools. So when you're on an assembly job, you also have your showroom with you constantly. That drew the attention of local residents who also wanted to see what was for sale. Then you were back in your showroom in front of the customer demonstrating something, while your colleague was waiting for that one screw. We could really show everything live and even had a 220 V converter on board to show Somfy working."
In 2005 came the time to say goodbye to the mobile concept. "Despite the size of the truck - incidentally a handicap in small streets - we could no longer show everything we wanted to show," Kluijfhout explains. "In fact, due to the growth we were experiencing, we wanted to include more brands and new products in our program. The truck did not offer enough space for this, a reason for us to invest in a commercial building with a combined storage and showroom. We operated the truck for another six months, but then it was replaced by company vans. With that, the curtain finally fell on the mobile concept."
Growth continued and soon a need arose for additional storage and workshop space. That need was filled with the purchase of a commercial building across the street. "In the new section we were able to have ample storage and workshop space, which made it possible to completely convert the existing section into a showroom. Scale we desperately needed to keep the momentum going!"
The mobile showroom has proven its success and is now "retired.
"In the early years, it was sometimes difficult to gain the trust of manufacturers and suppliers," Kluijfhout recalls. "After all, we were those two Zeeland fools who went door-to-door with stuff. That changed rapidly when our concept proved successful. We no longer had to beg if people would please supply us, but had to proverbially knock the representatives off our backs."
About the business succession, Kluijfhout does not have to worry. "I myself am 63 now and Adri is 57. Of course then you think about continuing what you have built up. I think that will be fine. Meanwhile, Jappe Vette, my 38-year-old son-in-law, is working fully in the business; he has taken over 25% of my shares. Kim, Adri's 26-year-old daughter, works five afternoons a week in the showroom. They are in line to take over the business. Whether Adri and I will manage to get out of the industry completely? We do have the sun protection virus in our blood don't we!"
