The company was founded, in Sneek, by brothers Clemens and August Brenninkmeijer in 1841 as a Dutch textile company, taking its company name from their initials. In 1906 Clemens' son, Bernard Joseph, started discounting in Amsterdam and by 1910 there were ten stores in the Netherlands. These were from the German Brenninkmeyer family that traded in linen and textiles since the 17th century from its hometown of Mettingen, Germany. For many years, C&A retail clothing stores were a major presence in town centres throughout the United Kingdom. C&A also opened stores in a number of out-of-town locations, such as its store at the Merry Hill Shopping Centre in the West Midlands, which opened in November 1989. The company's strategy of selling budget clothes from high-rent city-centre retail stores made it vulnerable to a new breed of competitors operating in cheaper, out-of-town locations, including Matalan and the rapidly expanding clothing operations of supermarket food chains such as Tesco and Asda, and to expanding high street names such as H&M, Zara, and Topshop. C&A in the United Kingdom was a notable example of an incorporated private unlimited company, which meant that it was not required to publish its financial statements under United Kingdom company law. In 2000, C&A announced its intention to withdraw from the British market, where it had been operating since 1922, and the last UK retail stores closed in 2001. Primark bought 11 of the C&A stores. In June 2009, the company withdrew from the Argentinian market. C&A China competes with main clothing companies such as H&M and Zara. Singer Beyoncé released her own clothing line, Deréon, in cooperation with C&A in the summer of 2010. On 14 January 2018, German newsmagazine Der Spiegel reported on its web site that C&A's owners were considering selling the company to an unnamed Chinese investor. In a statement, Cofra Holding AG said that they "remain fully committed to a successful, future-proof C&A business and as such at C&A we have embarked on a transformation and growth program." Without directly mentioning the sale, they added: "The ongoing transformation of C&A includes an investigation of ways to accelerate in high growth priority areas such as China, emerging markets and digital, and that could potentially include partnerships and other types of additional external investment."
United Kingdom ska act The Specials referenced the store in "Man at C&A" on the 1980 album More Specials. The phrase "Man at C&A" was later used to typify someone who was unfashionable. In an episode of the sitcom Only Fools and HorsesDelboy tells his brother Rodney that when they become millionaires, their clothes will "come from Man at C&A".
