Hagemeyer Trading is an international company that specializes in the export and import industry. It was founded in 1904 by brothers Anton and Johan Hagemeyer in Surabaya, Java, for the purpose of importing products into the then Netherlands East Indies, today Indonesia. Hagemeyer's Asia regional headquarters was built in Singapore in 1973. The company has held exclusive distribution rights to many international brands in its many years of business, but it is best known for its partnership with National Electronics and Panasonic within Singapore. In 1995, the company revised its operations, making the decision to sell off the majority of its shares in the consumer goods industry, and to focus on primary business-to-business distribution instead.
Corporate Background
Hagemeyer Trading was founded unofficially in the 1890s, when Anton Hagemeyer undertook an export consignment of cheeses to sell in the Netherlands East Indies, where he was based as bookkeeper for the colonial offices. Hagemeyer soon joined forces with his elder brother, Johan, in 1904 to begin the trading company known as Hagemejier & Co. in Surbaya, Java. The company was based in the Dutch-colonized East Indies for the first few years of its operation, exporting both necessity and luxury items such as ink, wine, clocks, and fabrics from the Netherlands for the government officials based in the colonies. Hagemejier & Co. distinguished itself from its early rivals through its willingness to trade and export branded items, which were in constant demand with the often-homesick colonial personnel. In the company's first year of operation alone, the brothers earned at least 60,000 guilders, a figure that immediately doubled in the next financial year.
The neutrality of the Netherlands in the First World War ensured uninterrupted business for the company, even enabling it to quadruple its then intake of NFl$80,000, especially since firms belonging to the nations involved in the war were forced shut. In 1918, following the death of his brother and partner, Anton Hagemeyer decided to change the company's name from Hagemejier & Co. to Hagemeyer Trading, to facilitate the company's use of modern typewriters, which did not support the traditional symbols in its original name. In the 1920s, business suffered because of international and regional post-war damages and new competition that arose by new influx of import and export items. Hagemeyer's standing in the trading industry was thus challenged by the sudden presence of both new and returning companies. As market supplies increased, a price war ensued, which eventually resulted in a loss of at least NFl$500,000 for the group. After continued losses in 1922, the company was forced to turn their shares over to a creditor bank to enable their corporate survival. Thankfully, the market quickly improved in the early 1920s, and ownership of the company was readily transferred to the Hagemeyer family.
It took another war before the company restructured its operations and relocated its main business away from the increasingly unprofitable Netherlands East Indies. In 1942, following the Japanese occupation of Indonesia, Hagemeyer's businesses were once again disrupted, and the dire situation did not improve even after the war, as Indonesian nationalists fought the Dutch for sovereignty. During these few years of endured financial difficulty, the company made the decision to direct their main trading outside of Indonesia, choosing Singapore as one of their new marketing bases. An office had already been established in Singapore in the early 1930s, and this was soon followed by a $5 million Asia regional headquarters, similarly located in Singapore, in 1973. By 1975, Hagemeyer Trading was operating out of 9 countries, from Singapore to Malaysia to Taiwan and South Korea, with 15 trading and manufacturing companies, and 31 offices and branch offices.
Key Regional Partnerships
In Singapore, the company entered into an agreement with Matsushita Electric Trading in the 1970s, and was awarded the primary distribution and dealership rights to the company's brands, including Panasonic and National Electrics. The 2 companies collaborated to publish the newsletter, National News, which brought together boardroom and retail news concerning Hagemeyer Trading and all the products it distributed under its partnership with Matsushita Electric.
In 1979, the company recorded an impressive sales intake for its National products, which was declared to have doubled since the financial year of 1978. Hagemeyer Trading, in its National newsletter, credited these increased earnings to the recently launched video cassette recorder, an innovation by Matsushita Electric, and one of the very first recorders on the market. Hagemeyer Trading had also launched several notable advertising campaigns in that year, sponsoring hit television series such as the Chinese Talentime franchise.
Recent Developments
The company was badly hit by the Asian crisis in 1998, which forced its subsidiary company in the retail industry, Ceteco, to declare bankruptcy. The collapse of Ceteco prompted major overhauls from within Hagemeyer Tradings boardroom, and the company soon decided to sell off all of its consumer goods operations, and focus solely on sourcing and providing materials for the primary business-to-business sector. In 2000, Hagemeyer Trading bought the Spanish firm, Almacenes de Baja y Media, one of the leading distributors of electrical products in Spain. This decision coincided with the company's new policy of focusing on the electrotechnical industry, to allow businesses to trade with major firms at the primary level of production.
Author
Esther Wang Ying Jie
References
Hagemeyer Trading Inc. (1975). Exports to the West. Singapore:Times Printers Singapore.
(Call no.: RCLOS EPHE O285 v. 1)
Hagemeyer Trading Inc. (1979). National News: The National Family Newsletter. Singapore: Hagemeyer Trading (S) Sdn. Bhd.
(Call no.: RCLOS q338.76213095957 NNNFN)
Hagemeyer Trading Inc. (1980). National News: The National Family Newsletter. Singapore: Hagemeyer Trading (S) Sdn. Bhd.
(Call no.: RCLOS q338.76213095957 NNNFN)
Hagemeyer Sports & Recreation Club. (1990). Dinner & Dance 90. Singapore: The Club.
(Call no.: RSING 796.0605957 HGCSSR)
Reference for Business. (2008). Hagemeyer N.V.: Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on Hagemeyer N.V. Retrieved February 22, 2009, from http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history2/27/Hagemeyer-N-V.html.
The information in this article is valid as at 2009 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.
