Union (bicycle manufacturer)
Union BV is a Dutch two-wheeler manufacturer.
history
The company was founded on July 27, 1904 by BJ van den Berg in Den Hulst and, in addition to bicycles, also manufactured mopeds at times. From 1913 onwards, our own frames were produced in Nieuwleusen , with the production building being labeled with the name Union Rijwiel Fabriek Dedemsvaart from 1914 onwards. From 1920 the company traded as NV Union Rijwielfabriek . In 1964 the one millionth Union bike was built. In 1958 Union started producing mopeds and from 1966 onwards, together with Motorenfabriek Kaptein from Utrecht, built Unikap engines . In 1973 Union left the motorcycle segment and focused again on building bicycles. In the same year, the last member of the founding family left the company management. On June 10, 1976, a large part of the factory burned down. In the decades that followed, Union found itself repeatedly in financial difficulties, but was always able to continue working and in 1984 already produced four million bicycles. Union had to declare itself insolvent on November 20, 2001, but was able to continue production with the help of a provincial rescue company. The company has been part of the DBG (Dutch Bicycle Group) since 2005 and is based in Ommen . The trademark rights have been with Pon Holdings since 2012 . On May 29, 2009, a large part of the former production building in Nieuwleusen burned down again.
Web links
- Company description at entoen.nl (Dutch)