80 years of Bosmans Slaapcomfort

BOSMANS SLEEP COMFORT CENTER, TRENDSETTER IN HEART AND KIDS FOR 80 YEARS

2021 will be an anniversary year for Bosmans Slaapcomfort Center. The family business has been pioneering in various areas for 80 years. What started on a small scale in Denis Bosmans' living room grew into one of the largest bed specialty stores in our region. The secret of their success? That you have to be one step ahead of the trends and that the customer is always king. Rudy Bosmans, current manager and grandson, guides us through an eventful but fascinating journey.

Furniture maker par excellence
“My grandfather Denis Bosmans founded the business in 1941, in the middle of the war. Matter may be said a lot because
he designed the furniture at the kitchen table, so to speak.

“MY GRANDFATHER WAS BORN BEFORE STI EL. AT A GLANCE HE SAW WHICH OAK WAS BEST FOR A SOLID FURNITURE.”

He started small, with shaving boxes and crucifixes. My grandmother delivered it to my house on a bicycle. She was a hipster avant la lett re with her cargo bike,” laughs Rudy.
“My grandfather was born for the profession. At a glance he saw which oak was best suited for solid furniture. The business grew steadily and after a stopover in Heist-Goor they moved to the more commercial building on the Mechelsesteenweg in Heist-op-den-Berg. The first bedrooms were made here.”

Family business is expanding at the seams
Rudy proudly talks about the early years of Bosmans Denis & Zn. In 1953 his father Raymond joined the business. His Commerce degree came in handy. The store definitively claimed its place in the furniture world and was literally bursting at the seams. 1962 was an important turning point. “That year a large furniture store opened at Liersesteenweg 170 (Heist-op-den-Berg). My father and grandfather successfully ran the pure craft in the studio. They formed a strong tandem with a clear vision. My mother Jeanne was responsible for sales in the store and was also the mother of 3 children.”

Looking across the border

Furniture store Bosmans became a real trendsetter in massive dining and bedrooms. Due to the growing success, the Bosmans started their own furniture factory. “Being the first in Belgium, my father turned his attention to Italy and Spain. Initially to import exclusive furniture, but also to collaborate. My father and grandfather were responsible for the design, the mass production was done by about a hundred craftsmen in workshops in Bassano Del Grappa and Pisa. This is where the foundation was laid for La Bella Italia, an old love that never rusts and where close friendships have their origins,” smiles Rudy.

Two shops opposite each other
Time for the third generation. 21-year-old Rudy, who graduated as a furniture draftsman, joined the company in 1979. Two years later the business expanded with a second store at the current location. In 1991, Rudy officially took over the business, assisted by his wife Annemie and sister Greta.
Hard times
“These were not easy years,” says Rudy.
“The rise of colonial furniture reduced interest in artisanal, locally made furniture. I was faced with the most difficult step in my entire career: discontinuing the collection of traditional furniture. The old shop at No. 170 was sold. A tough decision because that offer was the heart of my grandfather's business.”
The world between 'goodnight' and 'good morning'
But a Bosmans doesn't just sit there and give up. From 2004 onwards, Bosmans profiled itself as an expert in sleeping comfort and set up its own website. “We noticed that customers started to pay a lot of attention to sleeping comfort. A trend that we fully responded to with our high-quality offering. After all, we only offered the best of the best: Tempur, Auping, Beka and Latt of ex. In short, another formula that caught on. Fortunately, from 2006 we could also count on our son Bart.”

Continuous innovation
Bosmans thus reinvented himself as a sleep expert and continued to innovate. In 2015, thorough renovation work on the store resulted in a true metamorphosis. It resulted in an even wider range of A-brands. In this phase we also integrated the largest Auping store in Belgium into our store. The baseline 'All brands under one roof' therefore did not come out of the blue. Even the exclusive Hästens has been on display in the shop window since then. “I consider that makeover to be somewhat of an achievement,” Rudy explains proudly. “It only took six weeks, partly thanks to the support of professional Sam Schoovaerts.”

In 2018, Bosmans expanded both physically and virtually. A warehouse space of approximately 1,000 m² was created in the Industrial Park. And Bosmans also captured a place in the largest online warehouse, namely bol.com, with its collection of bed linen. That online experience is something we want to respond intensively to. “But,” Rudy emphasizes, “you have to feel and see a bed with all your senses and then you need an expert to guide you in your choice. I am happy that I can count on the expertise of Elke and Bart and all my other employees for this.”

“YOU MUST FEEL AND SEE A BED WITH ALL YOUR SENSES AND THEN YOU NEED AN EXPERT WHO WILL EXPERTLY GUIDE YOU IN YOUR CHOICE.”

Being one step ahead of the trends
Does he have any advice for the next generation? “Standing still means going backwards. That you should always look for the latest trends within the sleeping sector. And that you have to be one step ahead of those trends. If you have mastered that, then you are a real Bosmans,” laughs Rudy.
Finally, Rudy would like to add: “We owe the trust of customers and suppliers primarily to our professional and committed team. Without them there would be no Bosmans. And therefore a big compliment and a sincere big thank you to our team, past and present. They certainly deserve a mention here.

Paul Van Thienen : Employed as an installer since 2011. Meanwhile, also active as a seller and responsible for all bol.com sales
Sam Schoovaerts : Son of Greta Bosmans, co-responsible for the placements from 2011 to 2014
Herman De Cuype r: Assistant for placements until 2019
Jurgen Laenen : Responsible for placements
Ludo Vermeulen : Installer with extensive experience in installation of all brands.
Michiel Van Overstraeten, Stijn Poffé & Michael Verstraeten : Installers
Gregory Van Craen : Administrative tasks and sales
Chris Yskout : Brother-in-law of Rudy Bosmans, responsible for the accounts
Greta Bosma ns: Administrative tasks, sales and processing of online orders
Annemie Yskout: Responsible for managing the multilingual e-commerce website
Bart Bosmans : General responsible for all purchases and sales
Elke Cuypers : Responsible for Hästens and the natural sleep collection and management of our social media channels
Rudy Bosmans : Administrative responsibility and manager