Michiel Witteveen will stop on 1 February as CEO of the Mirage Retail Group, the company behind Blokker, Intertoys and Big Bazar, among others. Witteveen, which Blokker took over 2.5 years ago, outlines in the NRC that the company is in much better shape.
“Equity is now 183 million. When I started it was minus 340 million. We have no debt, and a good cash position,” Witteveen told the newspaper.
He will be succeeded by Dirk-Jan Stoppelenburg, who was previously CEO of the clothing company Scotch & Soda. Stoppelenberg must bring Mirage to the stock exchange. Witteveen will remain involved, as shareholder and as chairman of the supervisory board. In doing so, he actually exchanges roles with Stoppelenburg.
According to Witteveen (67), the switch is logical. At Blokker, each chain now has its own director and, according to him, the company has “entered calmer waters”. According to him, that requires a different way of managing. “Dirk-Jan can do that much better than I can,” he tells NRC. “I am an impatient entrepreneur. But in the time when it was very stormy, that was also necessary.”
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