The webshop and two physical branches of Kees Smit Garden Furniture are back up and running. Following a fire in one of its warehouses, the retailer decided to completely shut down for over a week and a half. "We made a conscious decision to 'reset' our business first," says supply chain director Arnold van der Meer about that choice.
On Liberation Day, a fire broke out in one of Kees Smit Tuinmeubelen's five warehouses in Overijssel. The fire reduced 1,600 square metres of storage space to ashes. Staff were able to leave the premises in time. The damage at product level also turned out to be not as bad as expected, but the impact on the processes was great, which led Kees Smit Tuinmeubelen to close its webshop and physical shops in the middle of the high season.
Keeping promises
"We deliberately chose to 'reset' our company first because we did not want to make any promises towards our customers that we could not keep," Van der Meer explains. "In addition, we also wanted to protect our employees and those of our transporter, who are just as dear to us."
The decision to shut down operations "hurt", "especially when you know all the preparations that were made to work towards these most important weeks in the season."
Crisis team
A crisis team was put together after the fire, in which various disciplines were represented. Van der Meer: "Together, we very quickly came up with a structured plan of action, which was then implemented. With, of course, the opening of our physical branches and online shops as the main objective."
Customers awaiting delivery could in many cases be served after Kees Smit Tuinmeubelen had a clear view of the status of its stocks. "In a number of cases, we unfortunately had to cancel the order," he said.
The investigation into the cause of the fire is still ongoing. Van der Meer cannot yet comment on the final damage either. "Of course now comes the aftermath of the fire. But we are mainly focusing on the future again and are looking forward to the start of the construction of the new distribution centre at the XL Businesspark this autumn."
