History

The origin of the name Bertus

The shop on the Nieuwe Binnenweg in Rotterdam opened its doors in 1971. Halfway through 1972, we had to give it a name for practical and decorative purposes, such as letterheads, advertising, the name on the letterbox and on the shop window. While we were discussing this, one of our customers who very much enjoyed sitting on the sofa every afternoon for a smoke and a cup of micro-biotic mint tea, said: "Why don't you name the store after me?" "Isn't your name 'Bertus'?" we replied, a little incredulously. "So what?" he said, "It's a proper Dutch name, isn't it?"

We couldn't deny that, and as he was a guy you could have a good laugh with, we decided to honor his request, and the store was dubbed Bertus Warehouse, seller of cheap records, candles, mint tea and bags made of old carpets.

The real Bertus, however, disappeared a year after and was never heard of again...