Awnings Netherlands: 'From necessary evil to pure luxury'

Johan Hol, along with colleague Aart van den Berg and their team at Marquesas Netherlands, have set themselves the goal of making the Netherlands a little more beautiful. "You know what's nice," says Hol. "Not only do we enjoy producing our awnings, but our customers really fit in with us. Our dealers sell the awnings with the same pleasure we take in making them. That makes us happy to walk the extra mile." 

Own powder coating department and CNC machine

The arrival of an in-house powder coating department for the aluminum profiles and a CNC machine shows that things are serious in Culemborg. Marquesas Netherlands wants to remain agile, especially under conditions that are tougher. "Just look at the effects of corona worldwide. Entire logistics chains have fallen over as a result and delivery times have risen sharply. At the same time, we saw an unprecedented increase in the popularity of solar shading. People started focusing on their own environment, refurbishing the house and garden and wanting to enjoy themselves at home. So the blinds were unstoppable! By doing as much as possible in-house and having sufficient stock, we as Marquees Netherlands can continue to work with normal delivery times, where others often cannot. This is also nice for the dealer: he has a nice boost for the consumer. They look less at the price and more at the availability. Simple market forces it really is." 

The 'mother of all movable blinds'

Johan Hol gives his views on awning history. "In the distant past, the marquise was the first form of operable awning. Until then, people did it mainly with rags in front of the windows, or with cloths that were attached to the facade and rested on poles at the front. All improvised constructions that were used especially in the inner-city area near stores. Building them up and taking them down every morning and every evening was a less enjoyable job for the shopkeeper. You still see these kinds of self-imposed solutions, but mostly in Third World countries. How nice it must have been when a clever carpenter - or perhaps it was a sailmaker or saddler - came up with the idea of stretching cloth on a collapsible frame? Operable awnings were born and the child was called "awning. Those who wanted blinds that lasted longer than a season invested in a marquis. And it worked!" 

"Thanks to our penchant for nostalgia, the awning of yesteryear stands today as an authentic awning, an ornament on the facade," Johan Hol believes. "Logical right? After all, there is much more to be enjoyed about an awning in terms of form than any other awning. The choice is now mainly made for reasons of luxury. The fact that the current awning is made with high-tech materials is a nice assurance you can sell with it. But believe me, the consumer has fallen in love the moment you communicate that anyway." υ