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Who in their 20s doesn't dream of owning their own business? Pretty much everyone, right? But who makes it come true? Chiel the owner of Welvaere grabbed his dream with both hands and saw a possibility and opportunities. Chances to become the largest wellness supplier in Europe. And anno 2022 we are - after a place in depot 250 growth companies of the Netherlands - pretty well on its way. Read here how it all started in a backyard.
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Welvaere. It started in the garden of an over-enthusiastic, enterprising student who longed for a hot tub to spend his free hours in the open air in a relaxing way. He could have the hot tub, but he had to pay for it himself - according to his father. And so it happened.
That outdoor bubbling brought so much pleasure; the student decided that more people could enjoy this. He sacrificed his own hot tub for the sake of others' enjoyment, but luckily soon found another one. And another, and another. He found so many that his garden was littered with hot tubs. There was no more room for the smallest blade of grass. That was not how his father had envisioned it. It appeared to be time for a place of his own. One with more space and without fathers.
He found that place a block away. And with his own premises, also came a real CoC registration. 'EasyBubbles' was a fact!
Relaxing in the outdoors proved to be a favorite pastime. A larger building and the first employee were therefore not long in coming. And with a real employee, Friday afternoon drinks became an (unforgettable) fact.
By the time the student started calling himself an entrepreneur, the first real setback came. The beloved hot tubs were no longer allowed to be sold by the NVWA.
That's where EasyBubbles almost went up in smoke. But where there's smoke, there's fire. And where fire burns, there may well be a hot tub there. Either way, a fire had been burning in the entrepreneur's heart several weeks before. For burning, wood-fired hot tubs and saunas that is. EasyTubs & EasySaunas were added and EasyBubbles transformed into a rental division. This kept the company standing like a rock in the lake of fire.
NVWA had taught the entrepreneur a wise lesson: depend less on suppliers. In other words, make as much as possible yourself. What was needed for that? Wood, lots of wood. A workshop. And, of course, a carpenter. What that meant? Our own label: handmade Ducktubs and Tonsaunas by Dutch craftsmanship. And no more problems. Just kidding, there are always problems. But now we could solve them ourselves.
As the entrepreneur grew older and wiser, EasyTubs, EasySaunas and EasyBubbles grew in parallel with him. Different departments such as sales, customer service and a marketing team came along. There came new faces, new questions and new insights. Like, why are there three names for one company?
Since no logical answer was found to that, it was time for a new name. 'Welvaere' was born on a drizzly morning, during a complex brainstorming session. Velvaere means wellness in Norwegian, but we are not from Norway. Therefore, the V was replaced for the W of Wellness. Welvaere.
Toward the end of 2016, the entrepreneur would go on a world tour. To develop further and so on. And also, of course, to lay on the beach. And to be young and irresponsible for a while. Because he wasn't that old yet. At that time a man with a huge beard was working at ICT. A structural, responsible man. A kind of viking, but Dutch. The perfect man to take over the entrepreneur's job and become Welvaere's first director. And so Welvaere changed from a chaotic, progressive and cozy company, to a structured, stable and cozy company.
The year of more than 10 employees and the return of the entrepreneur. The year in which we changed from a "group of friends," to a serious company. The year in which it became apparent that maintaining a friendly culture is not something to be taken for granted, but is something for which you have to do your best.
Say, just like in one of those relationships where love is a verb. Fortunately, we turned out to enjoy doing our best at that. And to be pretty good at it, too. That's why we can proudly say that even with today's 30+ Welvaere men and women, we still feel like a group of friends!
It was time again for a new pledge. This time it was not as easy as the times before. Because where before it was one entrepreneur and a few hot tubs, now it was one entrepreneur, a director, a showroom full of hot tubs and saunas, a sales department, a marketing team, a complete workshop ánd a huge inventory. That, of course, could not be separated. After a long search, new premises were found. In Nijkerk, the place to make Welvaere's fire burn even harder.
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Besides Nijkerk, a branch in Germany came in 2020. And burning, it does. Besides Nijkerk, there came a branch in Germany. With a driven, German young man at the wheel. A young man who started as Welvaere's international marketing intern and can now call himself co-owner and director of Welvaere Germany. 2020 was the year of a lot of creativity. Fewer customers in our Experience Center but despite the problems of COVID-19, the fire kept burning at Welvaere . We got bigger, got more Wellworkers and grew tremendously.
The year 2021 started in a lockdown. Not only in the Netherlands but also in our German branch, customers could no longer come. We got creative and started with online appointments. And not only this was a big change also in the beginning we opened our own sauna factory led by Jesse. With a small team we started manufacturing our own saunas in Putten and as you would expect from us that was not the only thing, because our passion to keep as much as possible in-house was now really starting to burn.
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In 2021, we also welcomed our second international branch. With Pieter at the wheel, the search was launched for a great location. And it was found. In November 2021 we opened our doors in Deinze in what can be called the most beautiful showroom of Welvaere.
And not only this was done in a big way. Also, 2021 is the year when we start making our own tubs of the hot tubs. With the goal in 2022 to make all hot tub tubs from our own location in Estonia.
In Germany, we have opened our 2nd branch near Dortmund.
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Your questions will be answered by experts with years of experience. We know exactly what you need.
All our products are designed and largely made in Nijkerk and Putten in the Netherlands.
Mon-Sat 9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
Response within 24 hours
Address & Opening Hours
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