**Bernard Joseph Brenninkmeijer** (December 9, 1871, Mettingen, Germany – 1945, Rome, Italy) was a pivotal figure in the history of the C&A retail empire and a member of the influential Brenninkmeijer family.
#### Biography
The youngest son of Clemens Brenninkmeijer (one of the founders of C&A), Bernard Joseph married Olga Crescentia Weigand in 1902. He is widely credited as the **"father of the modern C&A formula"**, transforming the company from a modest textile business into a major European retailer through innovative pricing and merchandising strategies.
In 1906, while managing a C&A store in Amsterdam, he dramatically reduced gross margins (from around 50% to 25%), leading to higher sales volume and significantly increased absolute profits. This approach, encapsulated in the Dutch phrase **"Rekenen in Centen, in plaats van Procenten"** ("calculating in cents, instead of percentages"), emphasized maximizing total monetary contribution over maintaining high percentage margins.
#### Connection to Deckungsbeitrag
Bernard Joseph's strategy closely aligned with the German retail accounting concept of **Deckungsbeitrag** (contribution margin in absolute terms, often per unit or per square meter). C&A developed a proprietary system focusing on:
- **Deckungsbeitrag per m²** (gross profit contribution per square meter of store space).
- **Opportunity costs** (Opportunitätskosten) when selecting assortments—prioritizing items that generated the highest absolute euros over those with higher percentage margins.
This "snowball system" (as later described by family members) enabled aggressive discounting, rapid inventory turnover, and optimized product selection. It was reportedly kept highly secret within the company for decades, contributing to C&A's dominance until the framework was largely abandoned in the 1990s.
Descendant Ansgar John Brenninkmeijer has publicly discussed and revived interest in this method, noting its similarities to practices at discounters like Aldi and arguing it as a "secret weapon" of successful German-origin retailers.
#### Legacy
Bernard Joseph's innovations propelled C&A's growth from a handful of stores to a European powerhouse by the early 20th century. His focus on volume-driven profitability influenced multi-generational family business practices and remains a case study in retail economics.
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