These are the 15 most profitable independent furniture stores in Flanders

The top fifteen most profitable independent furniture stores show that the crumbs dropped by market leader IKEA continue to make a good living.

Strings have been excluded from our selection; The list only contains independent operators with a maximum of two stores. The most profitable shops are located on the outskirts of smaller central cities. With plenty of parking, thousands of square meters of shops, and a very wide selection. Shops often have their own restaurant, because choosing furniture takes time. At Gero Wonen Hotel a customer stays for an average of three hours. Sometimes the expansion is sought literally across the street.

These always concern Flemish family businesses, where succession is often arranged. At the top of the list is Lier's Jiro Wonen, whose testimony you can read here. Sixth on the list, Prenuptia in Genk, will celebrate its 80th anniversary next year. The fourth generation of the founding Luce family is at the helm. At the Monikids in Sint-Niklaas, ninth in our ranking, third generation member Marieke Van den Poel (37 years old) took over the torch at the beginning of this year. The Van den Poel family owns two stores, Krea and Colifac, with a wide range of products for children.

Two families appear twice on our list. The Verfaillie-Sintobin family owns the third store, Top Interieur in Massenhoven, and the tenth store, Top Mart in Izegem. The Govaerts family has owned a furniture store in Lier for sixty years, Gova Meubelen, which ranks fifth in our ranking. Since the end of 2008, she has had a second furniture store on Antwerpsesteenweg in Lier, NV Ygo. It is number seven. Yves Govaerts (57 years old) and his sister Sophie (43 years old) are the third generation at the helm of the team.

In the top fifteen list, at least nine companies have more than half their own capital, and their total balance sheet is often very large. Number two, Poppels Meubelhuis NV, is an example of this. The Coenen family company has been around for 88 years. Eric and Stan Koenen have been active in the family business since 1977.

Among the top 50 cash flow makers, Meubelen Robbrecht in Zwijndrecht also has a cash flow of €407,000. “A cash flow of at least €400,000 is not bad,” says Pascal Flesch from the financial and economic database Trends Business Information. He added: “This amount is certainly sufficient for the necessary investments, including additional inventories. Or the company can treat shareholders by paying dividends. Cash flow is the cash remaining at the end of the financial year after paying all costs. It gives an idea of ​​the real profitability of the company.”

The number of companies is already systematically decreasing. In 2023, fourteen furniture stores went bankrupt. “This represents 0.87% of the total 1,617 companies operating in this sector,” says Pascal Flesch. “This is slightly higher than the overall average in Belgium, which ranges between 0.65 and 0.70 percent.”

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