Dirk van den Broek (; 27 March 1924 – 8 April 2020) was a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

businessman. He was the founder of Cooperating Dirk van den Broek Companies. In 2014 some of his stores were renamed Dirk. He was born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

in 1924. At the age of 15, he started selling milk throughout the city. In 1942, he opened his first business a small dairy store in his neighbourhood. By 1953, he expanded his small store business into a supermarket, which was the first of its kind in Amsterdam. He kept his business growing by adopting an acquisition strategy such that over the years his company took over local

grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, a ...

s. Later he started D-reizen, a popular travel agency.This company is one of the oldest family-owned businesses in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. He owned over 120 stores in cities across the country. Van den Broek was knighted as Officer in the

Order of Orange Nassau The Order of Orange-Nassau ( nl, Orde van Oranje-Nassau, links=no) is a civil and military Dutch order of chivalry founded on 4 April 1892 by the queen regent, Emma of the Netherlands. The order is a chivalric order open to "everyone who has ...

in 1990 by

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

Beatrix of the Netherlands Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix is the eldest daughter of Queen Juliana and her husban ...

. He was married and was a father to his five children. His children have been actively involved in the family business. He died in

Aerdenhout Aerdenhout () is a village in the municipality of Bloemendaal, Netherlands. Located in the dunes between Haarlem and the beach town of Zandvoort, it ranks as the wealthiest town in the Netherlands. The name "Aerdenhout" means ''Andere hout'', Du ...

, at the age of 96.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Broek, Dirk van den 1924 births 2020 deaths Businesspeople from Amsterdam