Although we offer several kitchen brands, the kitchen cabinets by the Pfullendorf, Germany based ALNO company have been our core product since our start in 1970. The origins of the mother company itself date back to 1927 in the Badenese township of Wangen, southern Germany, when a local shriner, Albert Nothdurft, begins assembling and selling simple wooden cabinets. From 1936 on these are being marketed under the resounding name ALNO , from the first two characters in name and surname of the company's founder. After World War II the company moves to a town still closer to Lake Constance and the Swiss border, Pfullendorf, at which time some 50 people are employed. In 1958 follows the conversion towards Alno Möbelwerke GmbH, or ALNO Furniture Ltd.. In 1960 Nothdurft's sons endeavour on the construction of a huge modern production hall in Pfullendorf, and this marks the start of the brand's international expansion. In ten years' time turnover grows from 2.5 million EUR to 35.2 million and the number of employees from 95 to 677! As a consequence, by 1970 ALNO is market leader both in Germany and in Europe. The seventies and eighties see the emergence of subsidiaries in a number of European countries, an evolution meant to support the brand's expansion in Europe. One of the earliest daughter companies was Belgium's, and this in Deinze, a town in the province of Eastern Flanders (click photo to the left).
During the sixties Herman en Emma Cosyns-Van Kerckhove, the current owner's parents, run a joinery in Geraardsbergen where apart from timber roof structures, window-frames and doors and the like, now and then solitary kitchen cabinets are already being made. At that time the concept of integrated cabinets and built-in kitchens is still very much a novelty, to such an extent that the products of the few pioneering brands often receive, rather erroneously actually, the label 'American kitchen'.
Some time in the summer of 1969 an ad in which ALNO calls upon potential dealers to distribute its kitchens is spotted by Emma Cosyns, and under her impetus the Belgian ALNO-daughter is contacted. In early 1970 a contract is signed and Cosyns Kitchens can call itself the renowned German manufacturer's first dealer on Belgian soil. Some rather difficult years follow, partly as a result of the 1973 oil crisis, but come 1978 sufficient financial clout is available to build a modern showroom along the Astridlaan in Geraardsbergen, virtually on the junction to Oudenarde.
After the seventies with its ubiquitous melamine cabinet doors in a variety of period colors follow the eighties. It's the heyday of the so-called fermette fashion in construction in Flanders and a bungalow like that just begs for oak kitchen cabinets! Cosyns kitchens installs in that period hundreds of these kitchens and, significantly more so than melamine, laminate, foil or even lacquered models, oak cabinets stand the test of time. The photograph to the right shows a SCHMIDT-model (actually a French brand) with arch door style fronts and one-piece drawers in solid oak in our showroom sometime in the mid-eighties. This very kitchen found its way to nearby Enghien, underwent in 2011 a 'Midlife update' with new granite countertops, a new sink and new electrical appliances, and as such began a third phase in its existence!
Important novelties in the nineties were amongst others fronts in high gloss laminate and foil. Of the former the kitchen shown in the photo to the left is a good example: the hugely popular ALNOQUARZ Emerald Green model. This model too began its 'career' in our showroom, was then installed around 1997 in a dwelling in the town's centre, and anno 2012 seems barely touched by time. As mentioned before, the mid-nineties saw also the emergence of thermofoil cabinet doors, which offered a cheaper alternative for lacquered doors. Generally, thermofoils are vinyl or polyester based sheets that are typically glued at a temperature of about 135°C on doors made of MDF (Medium Density Fibre). A unique property of thermofoil is that this material, if applied under the correct circumstances, creates a smooth and seamless surface across any feature in the MDF door, e.g. a raised center panel, grooves etc. Before the foils, if one wished such a door, one had to resort to a lacquered model. A hugely popular thermofoil kitchen front was the ALNOTERM Vanilla, the kitchen front par excellence for inexpensive classical kitchen cabinets, which around eight years back relived a second youth in the cottage style series.
In 2001 the second generation, in casu the current manager Michaël Cosijns together with his spouse Agata, took over the helm from Herman and Emma, and in 2010, with a portfolio of around 2,500 kitchens and countless renovations, custom-built furniture and dressings, 40 years of Cosyns Kitchens and 40 years ALNO-dealership in Geraardsbergen could be feted. During all this time a number of key principles were held high which put the interest of the customer first: high quality of the proposed products; a fair price with clear and transparent offers; a failsafe installation with a focus on the most minute details; and a decent after-sales service.
Unfortunately, on 2 May 2011 Herman, who together with his spouse Emma started up our business in 1970, a business which together they developed into a reliable reference in the region and beyond, deceased after a monthlong serious illness.
In compliance with their principles, work methods and labour ethic, our company will further engage itself to offer our clientele the very best.