1985-1991: A new direction is chosen when Jaap Sneeboer and Wilma Peelen take over the company
When Jaap Sneeboer started working at the family business in 1984 things were ripe for a change. For the first time, a brochure was printed in 1985 with self-made black-and-white photos to increase sales and the strengthen the Sneeboer brand. On the 1st of April Jaap Sneeboer and Wilma Peelen bought the company and realized that there was a lot of work to do. The business was regionally focused, had an old smithy, a shop that sold household items and it lacked a proper strategy so it was time to make some drastic changes.
In 1988, Frank Sneeboer was asked to join the company again to take over the blacksmithing work from his uncle Kees Sneeboer and in 1989 the difficult choice was made to stop with the shop as this had almost no relation to the garden tools. To get a foot in the door with the local bulb growers, the Van Driel company from Nieuw Vennep was bought in October 1989. These steel garden tools broadened the range considerably and provided the necessary boost to revenue. Today, Sneeboer still makes Van Driel garden tools which, unlike Sneeboer tools, are made of steel rather than stainless steel. To reinforce the team, Aad Sneeboer (Jaap and Frank’s brother) was asked to join the company in 1990 and in that year Sneeboer exhibited their tools for the first time at a local garden fair; the Westfriese Flora!
