Founding locations have something almost mystical about them. More than just geographical points, they represent identity and tradition. Even today, the small half-timbered house where Friedrich Krupp founded his steel company sits like an oddity on the grounds of the company’s headquarters in Essen. The garage where Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak assembled the first Apple computer is now a historical site. Companies need such historical anchor points. Sometimes, however, they fall into oblivion, as in the case of C&A.

For a long time, the house at Oosterdijk 7/9 in Sneek was considered the birthplace of C&A. Until recently, a plaque on the current building—a semidetached house with two boutiques—commemorated this special place. But it was actually the site of the first store opened by Clemens and August Brenninkmeijer in 1860, nearly twenty years after the company was founded. The Brenninkmeijers had started their own business in 1841, initially working as traveling salesmen. But where exactly was the building where they had their first warehouse and conducted their early business activity? Where did the history of C&A actually begin?

The exhibition in DAS Forum uses photos, memoirs, business records, and administrative documents to trace the location where the brothers founded their company in 1841 and sold goods throughout Sneek. Visitors to the exhibition can look forward to an exciting, multilayered journey of discovery through archives, city history, and corporate memory.