Futurumshop

It’s a dream come true for many of us: turning your hobby into your work straight out of school at nineteen. That’s how Harmen van der Meulen started out with Futurumshop in late 1999. He was - and still is - a cycling fanatic who managed to turn his passion into his work through Futurumshop. Twenty-three years later, Futurumshop has grown into a business with an annual revenue of almost 60 million euros. The company processes 1 million parcels each year and is among the 65 largest online shops in the Netherlands. Futurumshop is a webshop, but also has locations in Apeldoorn in Utrecht.

Turning your hobby into a business

At Futurumshop, you can order countless bicycle parts and accessories online. Besides cycling and mountain biking equipment, running shoes and other accessories are also sold. Futurumshop’s specialty, however, is cycling apparel. In recent years, Futurumshop’s own brand, FUTURUM has also grown tremendously. The 4 SEASONS collection in particular is immensely popular. You can wear their clothing line nine months per year.

International success

About 70% of the company’s revenue comes from the Netherlands; Belgium is primarily responsible for the remaining 30%. Since 2019, FUTURUM is also sold internationally; cyclists in Asia and South Africa now also wear FUTURUM apparel. Still, the focus of this new international strategy is primarily on the neighbouring countries with a similar cycling climate such as Germany, Denmark, and the United Kingdom.

Looking back at recent years, Van der Meulen calls this international growth a unique achievement: “We know the local market well and we have an enormous distribution network. But we had to essentially start from scratch in countries such as Germany and Denmark. That requires a completely different business approach for product development, customer service and marketing.  That we see an increase in sales in these countries, makes me tremendously proud.”

Export countries: Belgium, Germany, Denmark, France & UK