Utrecht (NL), 5 January 2021 – Vendis Capital, the consumer sector specialized European private equity fund, invests in SoLow, a Dutch retailer with a fun offering of party, hobby & craft and other non-food articles with affordable pricing.
SoLow, headquartered in Culemborg (The Netherlands), is a uniquely differentiated retailer with a deep assortment in party, hobby & craft as well as a broad offering in other fun non-food articles, all available at affordable prices. The company was founded in 2003 by the brothers Danny and Francois Dame, who started selling these products from a stall on local street markets. Building on their success, they started opening permanent stores under the SoLow brand. Since then they have delivered considerable growth in both absolute and like-for-like sales. The company currently operates 35 SoLow stores throughout the Netherlands.
Vendis Capital teams up with the two brothers to further accelerate the growth and development of the company. To do so a new management team comprising a mix of current and new employees is formed. This team will be led by Gert-Jan Becks (CEO). Gert-Jan brings significant experience from his past roles at amongst others Swinkels Family Brewers, Bacardi-Martini and Nestlé.
Danny Dame, co-founder, and current CEO of SoLow, is proud of the successes he and his team have made in building the SoLow format. He believes that Vendis Capital is the right partner for SoLow to continue this success: “The qualities of Vendis Capital, amongst others their successful track-record within the retail industry and experience with optimizing and rolling-out retail formats, will add to Solow’s further development”
David de Graaf, Investment Director at Vendis Capital: “SoLow fits Vendis’ investment criteria very well; it presents a retailer in the large and growing non-food discount segment with a differentiated format that is well positioned for further growth. We are excited about partnering with SoLow and look forward to bring its unique offering to more and more customers.”
The participation in SoLow represents the second investment within Vendis Capital III, the €300 million fund that was launched in 2019.
