History
In 1994 Ron Stolk by chance purchased 4 drawings, drawn by Astrid Halsema. At first exclusively intended to hang on the wall. The reactions were so positive that the decision was made to print drawings on T-shirts. This became such a great success that Ron Stolk made the bold decision to go ahead and hire Astrid Halsema on a part-time basis and thus create the company Animal Prints. At the same however, the young entrepreneur was still studying to become a veterinarian, so, Mr. Stolk Sr., just recently retired, was convinced to get involved with the creative new company which was established in the university city of Utrecht.
The company had a good start and had many orders from many animal protection organizations as well as from equestrian equipment stores. Besides that consumer expositions, fairs and markets were visited.
At first the market was stormed with many T-shirts, sweaters and cotton bags but once the ceramic products were discovered things really became very exciting. Many specialized animal stores, gardening centers and gift shops were added to the customer base.
Also interest abroad began to rise and more and more European countries were taking orders from Utrecht.
In 1997 Animal Prints moved to Maassluis, the residence of Mr. Stolk sr. and the number of employees was increased with representatives, warehouse workers and office personnel. Astrid Halsema was up till then working from home. But with the new location it became easier to optimize the logistic procedures of the expansive collection.
In 2004 once again a new location was chosen in order to further facilitate the growing activities of the expanding company. Ron Stolk, meanwhile graduated as veterinary was busily contemplating the decision to set up an animal clinic besides the Animal Prints operation. At the same time when he made the decision to open an animal clinic in Maassluis, Animal Prints was hit by a number of grave setbacks. Mr. Stolk sr. who had been present from the beginning and who had been responsible for the whole financial side of the operation fell ill and passed away shortly thereafter, 2 co-workers left the company at just about the same time. After this drain of resources the forced decision to reorganize the company was made.
This led to the decision in 2007 to dump the Animal Prints collection, the presentation was scrutinized and a new assortment, without textile, was developed. The sales were contracted out to an external company and new co-workers were trained and acclimated. In short, everything is back in order and we can say with confidence:’ To be continued...’