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About 20 years ago young founder Boudewijn Roest worked at a real estate development company in Amsterdam. During his daily work he encountered all kind of challenges with the great diversity of projects. For one of the projects he was looking for a minimalistic washbasin. But unfortunately there was nothing on the market that met his requirements.
Later at home he thought about the possibilities. Both technically and economically. Gradually he becomes more and more enthusiastic about the potential of the design choices and the market to be won. He discussed it with his girlfriend and he decides to give it a shot. The first lines are put on paper and a few weeks later he builds a first wooden prototype in the living room of his small studio in The Hague.
The prototype ultimately did not fit the real estate company’s project, but the idea was there and he decided to market the product. To see if anyone liked the design and product, he invested some money and tried it out.
Because he needed a name, he thought it was funny to mention the brand Marike. A typical Dutch woman’s name, and the name of his girlfriend at the time.
After visiting a number of potential clients and experts in the market, he discovered that he had made something really good. More and more people asked for the design and the first serious turnover was achieved.
After a while, the new company became that big, he had to quit his day job and work 24/7 for his own company.
Now, almost 20 years later, the company has grown into an internationally established design brand, with beautiful projects, great customers and a number of well-known design awards.
